Bling Empire's Kelly Mi Li is suing the producer of show

Drama is unfolding!

Kelly Mi Li attends the season 2 launch celebration party for Netflix's "Bling Empire" on May 12, 2022 in Los Angeles, California
(Image credit: Getty Images / Rodin Eckenroth)

While Bling Empire Season two had its fair share of drama—from Kane Lee and Kevin Kreider's fight to Chèrie Chan and Jessey Lee's relationship (and hush-hush departure)—even more juicy revelations are now reaching our ears following its release. The latest big news is that Bling Empire star Kelly Mi Li is actually suing the show's producer. Wild, right? 

According to People, the castmember and TV producer in her own right is reportedly seeking legal action against Bling Empire’s producer Jeff Jenkins. Kelly alleges that she actually came up with the idea for the show and wasn’t given credit for it.

Why is Kelly Mi Li suing the 'Bling Empire' producer?

Kelly claims she told Jenkins, who is the producer behind the likes of Keeping Up With the Kardashians and The Simple Life, about her idea for the series in 2018. 

The lawsuit, according to People states that he then “took and exploited Li’s concept and materials, and entered into agreements creating obligations” that Kelly would receive pay and be named as one of the executive producers.

Kelly is actually named as one of the show's producers in the credits of each episode, but claims that she is entitled to "an episodic fee of 25 percent, 100 percent of Jenkin's executive producer fee for each episode she produced with him, and a 5 percent annual increase".

The pair reportedly worked together for months on the creation of the show and entered a one-year agreement that would be extended if negotiations with a buyer began, within that same year. 

While Jenkins was in talks with Netflix for the show before the agreement expired, Kelly claims that he has 'failed and refused to perform' the terms of their agreement. So far the amount that Kelly is suing for has not been revealed.

This will no doubt throw Bling Empire’s third season into question and whether Kelly will return for the next installment. 

We've reached out to the respective representatives for comment.

Naomi Jamieson
Lifestyle News Writer

Naomi is a Lifestyle News Writer with the Women's Lifestyle team, where she covers everything from entertainment to fashion and beauty, as well as TikTok trends for Woman&Home, after previously writing for My Imperfect Life and GoodTo. Interestingly though, Naomi actually has a background in design, having studied illustration at Plymouth University but lept into the media world in 2020, after always having a passion for writing and earned her Gold Standard diploma in Journalism with the NCTJ.


Before working for Future Publishing’s Lifestyle News team, she worked in the Ad production team. Here she wrote and designed adverts on all sorts of things, which then went into print magazines across all genres. Now, when she isn’t writing articles on celebs, fashion trends, or the newest shows on Netflix, you can find her drinking copious cups of coffee, drawing and probably online shopping.