The opulent balls of Bridgerton are back in the news, several months after Season 3 of the popular Netflix series aired. This time, though, it’s not for the music or the elaborate gowns. Instead, it’s because of a disastrous “Detroit Bridgerton Themed Ball” that fell short of expectations.
Fans who attended Detroit’s Bridgerton ball on Sunday have taken to social media to express their disappointment, describing it as unorganized and underwhelming, with many requesting refunds.
, the ball promised to immerse fans in “the enchanting world of the Regency… a night like no other filled with music, dance, and exquisite costumes.” The website also advertised prizes and giveaways for attendees.
However, and shared on X (formerly Twitter) present a starkly different reality. Attendees documented dancing in a sparsely decorated room, reported receiving food, and expressed feeling “.”
The event had already been rescheduled from its initial date last month to Sept. 22.
“I think we were all really angry about it, because we had built up these expectations and the tickets were not cheap,” attendee Camerin Morey told “I definitely think that the people in this company were just in it to make money and try to maybe copycat off a successful event. But they either had no idea what they were doing, or just didn’t care.”
The event management company responsible for the Bridgerton Themed Ball, has disabled comments on their social media.
TIME has reached out to Uncle and Me LLC for comment.
Netflix and Shondaland launched their own rendition of the show’s lavish parties in 2022, through a touring experience called “,” which visited 11 cities. Detroit wasn’t one of those cities, though, and the recent ball appears to be entirely unrelated to the Bridgerton-sponsored events.
event and the infamous in Glasgow, Scotland, which made headlines back in February after attendees called the police amid outrage over the event.
After entering what a “full immersive experience…promising a day of pure imagination and wonder,” fans of Willy Wonka instead reported an where they received no chocolate, leading outraged parents to demand refunds for their £35 ($44) tickets.
