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Bridgerton fans calling for refunds after disappointing event in Detroit

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Bridgerton fans calling for refunds after disappointing event in Detroit


DETROIT (WXYZ) — It’s been two days since the Detroit Bridgerton Ball scandal and people who were excited to go say there are still so many unanswered questions.

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For Pedro Soto and his newlywed bride, the event was meant to be a celebration after the two eloped just a day before.

“She was really excited. She bought all this stuff for her outfit and it just ended up being something we didn’t expect it to be,” said Soto.

Pedro Soto

An image shows Pedro Soto and his newlywed Wife on the night of their elopement (September 21, 2024)

The couple, along with hundreds of other super fans of the Netflix show, say they spent hundreds of dollars on tickets, costumes, and more hoping to be transported into a fantasy scene and were instead let down.

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Pedro Soto

An image shows Pedro Soto and his wife dressed up at the Detroit Bridgerton Ball.

“The ticket included food, a bar, at least a table and chair for us to sit down and enjoy. It included an orchestra. What we really got was, it’s going to sound funny, Kool-Aid from a bottle, no bar. There was not enough seats and chairs for us,” said Soto. “We had to reuse cups, not enough plates. The backdrops were just paper. It was nothing special. The photographs were actually extra.”

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The event has since gone viral on social media after attendees the event planners at Uncle N Me LLC didn’t deliver.

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“This is truly a horror story and I’m just completely awestruck seeing everything that happened,” said local aerialist Tink who performed at the event. “Normally it’s not like that. Normally when you go to a show, especially a circus performer, it’s an amazing experience. You get wowed, thrilled even. It’s a little dangerous and I’m sad they didn’t get to experience that.”

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Tink

An image from July 2024 shows local circus performer Tink doing a hair suspension routine.

Tink has been a professional circus performer and a coach at Pole Fit in Shelby Township for 5 years. She says she was hired just three hours before the event and asked to pole dance. She says she has faced a lot of backlash from people online who were not happy to see her performance as a part of the Detroit Bridgerton Ball.

“When I gave them the menu, they did pick pole dancing between hair suspension, Lyra hoop, and aerial sling and pole dance is what we went with,” said Tink. “A lot of people thought it would have been better if I did hair suspension. I do know that’s a higher price for budget and I think because it was so last minute, if they had more time we probably could have had hair suspension there. Even the silks, that would have been so pretty, having the fabrics flying around. I think that would have matched the vibe.”

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Local circus performer Tink speaks to 7 News Detroit after the Detroit Bridgerton Ball.

Tink says the company also selected and approved her costume for the occasion, a red bra and matching panty.

“I just feel very bad for all the patrons who showed up to the event just because my goal as a performer is to bring happiness and cheers to everyone. So it kind of just bummed me out knowing everyone was so unhappy with the outcome,” she said.

After posting our story Monday, our newsroom was notified by viewers that they had a similar experience at a Bridgerton-themed tea party in Taylor back in June. The event was put on by the same company.

PREVIOUS REPORT: ‘Someone dropped the ball’: Bridgerton fans want answers after themed ball suddenly rescheduled

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‘Someone dropped the ball’: Bridgerton fans want answers after themed ball suddenly rescheduled

“I’m like ‘this sounds familiar’,” Tamela Everett says she thought when she saw the Bridgerton Ball controversy online this week. “I’m like this company has to be stopped. How are they able to get away with this? Profiting off of the Bridgerton name but just giving subpar performances and experiences.”

tamela everett

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Tamela Everett speaks to 7 News Detroit Tuesday about the Detroit Bridgerton Ball.

Everett says she paid $80 per ticket when she took her mom to the event at the Taylor Conservancy and Botanical Gardens. She says while the decor was beautiful, they waited hours in line for food that was cold when finally served.

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Tamela Everett

An image shows Tamela Everett and her mother at a Bridgerton themed tea Party at the Taylor Conservancy and Botanical Gardens in June 2024.

“It’s a tea party, there’s no tea at all, running out of mimosa, running out of serving glasses for the mimosas. It’s just really unfortunate for such a beautiful event,” said Everett. “I feel like something needs to be done. This company is making a lot of money off of regular hard-working people and it’s not really fair.”

After placing multiple phone calls, leaving voice mails, and sending text messages Monday, the company sent the following statement to our newsroom Tuesday afternoon:

“We understand that not everyone had the experience they hoped for at our most recent event Sunday night at The Harmonie Club, and for that, we sincerely apologize. Our intention was to provide a magical evening, but we recognize that organizational challenges affected the enjoyment of some guests. We take full responsibility and accountability for these shortcomings.

Please know that we are working diligently to address all concerns to ensure that all guests have the enjoyable experience they deserve. Your feedback is invaluable, and we truly appreciate both the positive and constructive comments shared with us.

We are reviewing resolution options, which will be communicated shortly. Your understanding and loyalty mean the world to us, and we are committed to doing everything in our power to make this right.”

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UME event group / UncleNMeLLC

It’s a response metro Detroiters say they have been trying to get for days now.

“Just treat all of us fairly and if there’s something, a hiccup that happens, take accountability and learn from it because we work hard for our money, especially in this economy and we deserve to get exactly what we’re paying for,” said Everett.

“Do the right thing, especially when you do such a big event and people expect so much from you. Just do the right thing. Give their money back. I don’t think hosting another event would be the smartest choice,” said Soto.

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Detroit, MI

Bruce Campbell announces cancer diagnosis; ‘Fear not,’ he tells fans

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Bruce Campbell announces cancer diagnosis; ‘Fear not,’ he tells fans



Treatment will delay the Royal Oak-born actor’s plans to tour his new film ‘Ernie & Emma’ this summer.

Royal Oak-born movie star and cult hero Bruce Campbell announced on social media on Monday that he has been diagnosed cancer — a type that is “treatable” but not “curable,” he said.

“I apologize if that’s a shock — it was to me too,” the “Evil Dead” star, 67, wrote in a message posted to Instagram.

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He went on to say “I’m not gonna go into any more detail,” and he didn’t. He said the public announcement had to do with scaling back appearances on his schedule, including tour dates behind his latest film, “Ernie & Emma.”

Campbell planned to show the movie June 5 at the Redford Theatre; as of Monday night, that date is still on the Redford schedule, but Campbell wrote in his note he plans to get “as well as I possibly can over the summer so that I can tour with my new movie ‘Ernie & Emma’ this fall.”

The movie is written, directed by and stars Campbell as a man who goes on a journey following the death of his wife. Campbell produced the movie alongside his wife, Ida Gearon, and filmed it in Oregon, where he now lives.

Campbell told The News in January he dedicated “Ernie & Emma” to his childhood moviemaking pals, including Scott Spiegel, who died of a heart attack in September 2025.

“It’s a callback to the carefree days of Super 8, where we could do whatever the f–k we wanted to do,” Campbell said of “Ernie & Emma.” “So I thought, ‘All the boys are responsible for this,’ so they’re all in there.”

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Campbell got his start making movies around Metro Detroit with his childhood pal, Sam Raimi. Campbell starred in Raimi’s “Evil Dead” trilogy and has since appeared in most of Raimi’s films; Campbell makes a brief appearance in a photograph in the background of an early scene in Raimi’s latest, “Send Help.”

He’s also an author; Campbell’s autobiography “If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor” was published in 2001.

In his post on social media, Campbell thanked fans and said he was not out to elicit sympathy.

“Fear not, I am a tough old son-of-a-bitch and I have great support, so I expect to be around for a while,” he wrote.

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agraham@detroitnews.com





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Michigan State Police sends message to drivers after trooper involved in hit and run:

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Michigan State Police sends message to drivers after trooper involved in hit and run:


“Slow down and move over” is the message that Michigan State Police is sending to drivers after one of its troopers in a parked patrol car was struck while investigating a crash this weekend. The driver of that vehicle fled the scene.

Michigan State Police tells CBS News Detroit that we’re two months into the year, and it has had six incidents across the state where patrol cars were struck by oncoming vehicles. One of those incidents occurred on Sunday evening.

“Could have been much more tragic,” said MSP Lieutenant Rene Gonzalez, First District public information officer.

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Michigan State Police


Gonzalez says on Sunday, an MSP trooper was near M-10 and Schaefer Highway in Detroit, simply doing his job, when his patrol car was hit from behind.

“Trooper was out there, and he was investigating a crash when, at the time, a Jeep SUV drove into the rear of the parked vehicle,” Gonzalez said.

The impact slid the trooper’s car into a concrete wall. The 29-year-old Detroit woman driving the Jeep SUV struck the center median, got out of the vehicle, and ran away.

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“Not sure why they did it. Maybe not paying attention if they were distracted. They’re attempting to locate her at this time,” said Lt. Gonzalez.

The trooper walked away with minor injuries. Gonzalez says this incident is an example of why Michigan’s Move Over Law was put in place many years ago. The law, which went into effect in 2019, requires drivers to move over into the next lane and reduce their speed by at least 10 mph when emergency or service vehicles — police, fire, rescue, ambulance and road service — have their lights activated. 

Drivers who are not able to move over are still required to reduce their speed.

“Trying to do our jobs, however, people are not paying attention. The law is easy. It’s simple. You see us, you see our lights activated, you have to slow down ten miles below the posted speed limit, and then if able, move over to the next occupied available lane,” Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez says crashes like this can be deadly and often avoided.

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“One life lost over something that was a totally preventable crash, it’s way too much. We’re asking that you slow down and move over when you see our lights. It’s a simple message that we’ve been pushing out for years,” he said.

Sunday’s crash remains under investigation. Michigan State Police detectives are still working to track down the 29-year-old suspect.

In the meantime, police are out enforcing the Move Over Law.



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Rex Satterfield’s 1956 Bel Air takes 2026 Ridler Award in Detroit

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Rex Satterfield’s 1956 Bel Air takes 2026 Ridler Award in Detroit


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Rex Satterfield hoped to see his 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air convertible snag one of the BASF Great 8 finalist spots at this year’s Detroit Autorama. But winning the Ridler Award — one of the highest honors in the custom car business — was something he didn’t foresee.

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“It’s just overwhelming right now,” said the man from Russellville, Tennessee, as he left a ballroom at downtown’s Huntington Place and made his way back to the show floor on Sunday, March 1. “We weren’t expecting this.”

Getting a car recognized as one of the BASF Great 8 vehicles is a win in and of itself as they are considered the “absolute pinnacle of custom automotive craftsmanship worldwide,” according to the show. The cars undergo an intensive judging process.

And this effort had an unexpected and emotional complication with the passing in December 2024 of the original builder, Jeff Wolfenbarger, who was battling cancer even as he continued working on the car named “Elegant Lady.”

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Kevin Riffey of Kevin Riffey’s Hot Rods and Restorations in Knoxville stepped in to finish the work Wolfenbarger started. He’d had two other cars in the past make the Great 8. He said the goal with this vehicle was straightforward, calling it a “purpose-built show car.”

From its prominent spot at the front of the show floor, “Elegant Lady” sported a creamy exterior, dubbed Light Coffee. The car carries a 1,000 horsepower Don Hardy race engine. The gauges, wheels and gas tank are custom, and the dash is from a 1956 Pontiac.

Satterfield plans to show the car around some and enjoy the moment with it. He said he’s been a car guy since he was a little kid.

The Ridler Award, named in honor of Detroit Autorama’s first publicist, Don Ridler, comes with a $10,000 prize. It was awarded on the final day of this year’s Detroit Autorama, which ran Friday, Feb. 27-Sunday, March 1. This was the event’s 73rd year.

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Eric D. Lawrence is the senior car culture reporter at the Detroit Free Press. Send your tips and suggestions about cool automotive stuff to elawrence@freepress.com. Become a subscriber. Submit a letter to the editor at freep.com/letters.



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