Alexis Christine Haines (née Neiers; born June 20, 1991) is a member of the "Bling Ring" and a former television personality. At the age of 18, she was arrested for her involvement in a string of burglaries that targeted the homes of multiple celebrities. Haines served one month of a six-month sentence after her conviction for one count of first degree residential burglary.
Haines starred in the reality television show Pretty Wild, but her struggles with addiction and the aftermath of being a part of the "Bling Ring" ended her Hollywood career goals. She got sober when she was 19, and started utilizing her platform to help others with drug problems, including becoming a columnist for Vice. Haines began hosting the podcast Recovering From Reality in 2019.
Involvement in the "Bling Ring" On November 16, 2009, Haines pleaded no contest to burglary charges stemming from her involvement with the Hollywood "Bling Ring" burglaries. The burglars had robbed the homes of celebrities including Orlando Bloom, Lindsay Lohan, Rachel Bilson, and Paris Hilton. Haines claimed to have been drunk during the burglary of Bloom's house, and "not sure what was going on". Co-defendant Nick Prugo recalled a different version of events, saying that Haines was fully aware a burglary was taking place, and is seen walking into the Bloom residence on security surveillance footage. A search of the Haines' household turned up a Marc Jacobs handbag belonging to Bilson and a Chanel necklace belonging to Lohan. Haines initially denied the items were stolen.
It appeared Haines was arrested on the set of reality show Pretty Wild, during the taping of the pilot episode, but she and her mother revealed in the 2022 Netflix three-part docuseries The Real Bling Ring: Hollywood Heist that the arrest had occurred off-camera. Instead, the scene that aired on the show was a fabrication carried out by E!'s production crew. Haines also admitted that she was one of the tipsters who implicated Prugo in the security footage that aired on TMZ.
On May 10, 2010, Haines pleaded no contest to a felony charge of first degree residential burglary of Orlando Bloom's home and was sentenced to 180 days in county jail, with three years' probation and a fine of $600,000. Haines began her sentence on June 24, 2010, and was released after serving one month of a six-month sentence. During the last five days of her sentence, she was in a cell next to Lindsay Lohan.
She reported that she did not have any contact with Lohan during her brief time in jail and that Lohan did not cause any trouble.
In popular culture
Haines has been featured in two films chronicling events surrounding the "Bling Ring", both titled The Bling Ring.
In the first, a made-for-TV film that originally aired on Lifetime in 2011, the character based on her is named Maddie Bishop and is played by Spencer Locke.
British actress Emma Watson played Haines in the Sofia Coppola-directed 2013 film, wherein she is renamed as Nicolette "Nicki" Moore. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, and was released nationwide on June 21, 2013. Haines has criticized her depiction in the film as inaccurate, alleging her role in the burglaries is exaggerated. Haines further called out Watson for negative comments Watson made about Haines' character in the film, saying she expected more empathy given the public knowledge that Haines had been sexually abused and was struggling with heroin addiction.
Media, career and personal life
Haines was born to Mikel Neiers, a Hollywood cinematographer known for his roles as the director of photography on Friends and Spin City, and Andrea Arlington, an actress and model who was in Playboy in the 1980s. They divorced, and Arlington remarried Jerry Dunn, a production designer for television, whom she later divorced.
Haines has said that she struggled with her father "falling off the face of this earth and not being a father."