It’s been a long time coming.
Rachel Bilson has finally faced two of the members of the Bling Ring, the group that targeted and robbed celebrity homes more than a decade ago. One of the homes they broke into at the time was Rachel’s.
In the latest episode of her Broad Ideas podcast, Rachel confronted two controversial figures, Alexis Haines nee Neiers and sister Gabby Neiers.
At the start of the episode, Rachel admitted that she was having “super conflicting feelings” about facing the sisters, who had recently recounted what they had done in Netflix’s The Real Bling Ring: Hollywood Heist. She then explained why she ultimately decided to sit down with the sisters:
“It’s been a long time since any of this went down… To be grown up and actually have real conversations is more important than harboring any awkwardness, animosity, any negative feelings that might come along with it.”
They then dove right in, with Alexis saying that she had never been inside Rachel’s home per se, but her sister had been one time. Gabby’s experience inside Rachel’s home and her apology to the OC star was cut out of the Netflix docuseries, and Gabby called that “so frustrating and so unfortunate,” adding:
“I’m grateful that you’re allowing me to be here to [apologize] to you face-to-face. I am so sorry that I ever made the choice to go into your home that night… I wish that I could take it back. It’s been a living nightmare for you for the past 10 years, 11 years. As a mother now, all you want to do is protect your babies, and I know that I stripped you of feeling safe in your home and I am so sorry.”
Rachel responded by saying that she appreciates the apology and she believes Gabby is “genuinely sorry.” The actress then went on to share the impact the break in had on her life:
“Every single designer item that was ever in my possession was taken during those events, amongst other personal things.”
Among the items stolen from her was her mother’s engagement ring. Rachel said:
“I learned the lesson to detach from material possessions, because every material possession of mine was taken. That feeling of violation, it’s hard to describe unless it’s happened to you personally.”
After discussing Gabby’s experience when she broke into Rachel’s home as well as what happened and how she felt afterwards, Rachel encouraged her to forgive herself and move forward:
“I let go of that s**t so long ago. You need to… You obviously have remorse for going into the house and taking things and I see that… It’s so important for you, and as a mother, that you fully let go, because now you are not that little girl, you have your little girl. It’s so important, because it’s not going to do any good, and it’s not going to make you feel good, and there’s no point, really, to hold onto something.
I am not a person that lives my life in grudges, regret, negativity, any of that, so I let go of this s**t a long time ago. Do I support it? No. Do I watch the movies? No. But I’m never a person that holds onto attachments in a negative space… You guys did come here. It’s a very vulnerable position to be in. It takes a lot to confront anything in your past that is uncomfortable in any way.”
Rachel revealed that while the Bling Ring will “always be triggering” for her, she stated:
“It’s important to move forward in life, and forgiveness to a certain degree is always the best way and the best move, because why hold on to those things that make you feel really s**tty?”
