Dubai Bling fans slam Season 2 for ‘perpetuating stereotypes’ about Asian culture

Fans of Netflix reality show Dubai Bling Season 2 have shared their frustrations with the representation on the show, saying that it is playing into popular media stereotypes about the Asian community.

Dubai Bling Season 2 aired on Netflix on December 13, 2023. The show is finally making its name among the existing and renowned reality TV programs such as The Real Housewives.

However, with increased popularity comes increased criticism, and fans have called out the show for inaccurate representation and ‘perpetuating stererotypes’ of Arab and Asian culture.

Here is what viewers have been saying about Bling Empire Season 2.

Fans compared Dubai Bling to Bling Empire

Fans took to Reddit to discuss their thoughts and express their opinion on the topic. One fan started a thread and compared Dubai Bling to the 2021 reality TV program, Bling Empire, which centered on East and Southeast Asian American socialites.

Netflix released Dubai Bling as a spin-off of Bling Empire, however, it seems that it was also criticized by the audience for the same reasons.

The fan wrote: “The main reason stated for cancelled Bling Empire was that it perpetuates stereotypes about the Asian community being affluent, but the spin-off Dubai Bling portrays Arabs and Asians in the same way and is still going.”

One fan agreed with the original post and added, “Not saying it isn’t, but simply part of the UAE’s push to cultivate a certain image about Dubai and the Emirates.”

Some fans pointed out that the real reason Bling Empire was canceled was due to legal issues between the cast and producers. Bling Empire star Kelly Mi Li sued the show Producer in April 2022. The fan commented: “Maybe, but I’ve been reading there were also legal problems with the cast of Bling Empire, so it could just be Dubai Bling’s cast are easier to work with.”

Another fan gave their opinion and wrote, “I regularly travel to Dubai so I didn’t think of it this way! I realise it must have a more exotic appeal to westerners. Ironically I dislike the cast of Dubai Bling more than Bling Empire, but they are definitely more entertaining to watch.”