Why Real Palm Beachers Are Up in Arms Over Netflixs Members Only
The first clue that the women in Netflix‘s new reality series Members Only: Palm Beach aren’t truly part of the island’s social fabric? They call one another “bitch.” Actual Palm Beachers are more likely to answer to “Muffie” or “CZ.” The show presents itself as a peek inside Palm Beach high society, but locals are…
The first clue that the women in Netflix‘s new reality series Members Only: Palm Beach aren’t truly part of the island’s social fabric? They call one another “bitch.” Actual Palm Beachers are more likely to answer to “Muffie” or “CZ.”
The show presents itself as a peek inside Palm Beach high society, but locals are up in arms, complaining that it bears little resemblance to the real thing. For starters, none of it was shot on the island, and residents insist that only one castmember, Suebelle, even lives there — and she’s barely featured.
“Not one second was actually shot on Palm Beach,” says Shannon Donnelly, a longtime chronicler of island society who has dismissed the cast as “geographically challenged coattail riders who present themselves as Palm Beachers when they are not.” Others bristle at the show’s look, which favors tattoos and sequins over pearls. “Palm Beach is about quiet luxury,” notes Marianna Abbate, a longtime Palm Beach publicist. “People here don’t seek attention.”
Some viewers have assumed the show is meant to reflect nearby Mar-a-Lago, but even that comparison only goes so far. “There are more sequins and more cleavage at Mar-a-Lago, but mostly for events,” Donnelly says. “During the day, people are wearing golf and tennis skirts.” Palm Beach resident Christine Pressman, wife of Barneys scion Gene Pressman, says the show feels less like a documentary than a casting call. “It looks like they put an ad in Backstage,” she said, “and hired people to play Palm Beach.”
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This story appeared in the Jan. 15 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.
