Explosive ‘Bling Ring’ Doc Says Real-Life Cop Cameo in Sofia Coppola’s Movie “Blew” The Ongoing Court Case: “You Should Thank Brett”

The new HBO documentary The Ringleader: The Case of the Bling Ring details how Sofia Coppola’s movie — based on crimes of the infamous burglaries — “blew up” the ongoing, real-life court case.

The Bling Ring was a group of seven young people in Los Angeles, California who broke into the homes of several wealthy celebrities, and robbed them of their expensive items. Victims included Lindsey Lohan, Paris Hilton, Orlando Bloom, and more.

After roughly a year of activity, multiple suspects were arrested in 2009 and a thorough court case began, which saw Rachel Lee being named as the leader of the group.

Coppola’s 2013 movie, The Bling Ring, saw Emma Watson leading the cast as Lee, with cameos from real-life victims Hilton, Kirsten Dunst, and chief investigator of the, at the time, ongoing case, Brett Goodkin, who also consulted.

The Max documentary included commentary from L.A. County Deputy District Attorney Sarika Kim, who worked on the case, along with Times reporter Amy Kaufman, who recalled doing a set visit for the film, where she spoke with Coppola.

While on set, Kaufman asked Coppola about having former Bling Ring member Alexis Neiers as a consultant, and she remembered the filmmaker telling her, “She’s been helpful, but who’s been really helpful was Brett Goodkin.”

Kaufman asked, “The LAPD cop?” And Coppola confirmed, adding, “Yeah, he’s a technical advisor — he’s a consultant for us on the movie. He actually did a cameo the other day. He came in and slapped the cuffs on Emma Watson.”

When Kaufman reached out to Goodkin, he denied the severity of his involvement, saying, “It’s not like I’m Bruce Willis,” and claimed to have only earned 5-6k from the production. The reporter reached out to LAPD and asked them about Goodkin’s involvement. In Kaufman’s 2012 report of the event, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office said, “We did not know, and now that we do, we have to evaluate what impact this may have,” and promptly began to investigate Goodkin’s work on the movie.

In the documentary, DA Kim recalled speaking with Goodkin on speakerphone, during which he denied his involvement in The Bling Ring and then claimed he wasn’t getting paid “that much.” The court subpoenaed the payroll record for the movie, which showed that Goodkin was paid “like $12,500.”

“You cannot go and work on a film about crimes while that case is still open. It’s like the vortex of fame – kids with no criminal records wanting to go and break into some celebrity homes and my detective who wants to be famous,” Kim said. “As the detective you’re supposed to be the person that’s gonna be on the stand a lot during the trial. Your credibility is very important and once you lie to the DA, that credibility is shot. So, he obviously was not going to be able to testify at trial.”

In the end, Nick Prugo and Lee served time in prison, while the remaining suspects only got probation. “Everybody would’ve gotten a state prison offer, but Brett Goodkin kind of blew this case up,” Kim said. “Sorry, Brett.” Kaufman further emphasized the result of his actions, adding, “The judge told them [the suspects], ‘You should write Brett Goodkin a thank you note because he pretty much just reduced your punishment majorly.'”

The Ringleader: The Case of the Bling Ring is currently streaming on Max.