A small lie ended up burning down my vanity.
That’s how affluent Hamptons millennials are explaining the tragic downfall of real estate developer Brandon Miller, who was found unconscious in the garage of his $8 million home in Water Mill, leaving behind his wife, social influencer Candace Miller, and two young daughters.
Brandon, 43, a principal partner in Real Estate Equity Corp., was married to Candace Miller, founder of lifestyle and mommy blog “Moms & Tatas” and a well-known figure in Hamptons socialite circles.
He was found unconscious in his car and taken to Stony Brook Southampton Hospital, where he died several days later on July 3. His collection of classic cars included a 1958 Porsche 356A Speedster, a 1971 Ferrari Daytona Coupe, and a 1968 Ford Bronco that had been expensively restored. The local fire department was called to the garage’s carbon monoxide alarm.
The cause of death has not been officially announced.
Sources told The Washington Post that Brandon was believed to have been around $17 million in debt at the time of his death.
His wife and young daughters, who had been staying at a luxury hotel on Italy’s Amalfi Coast as part of a lavish trip to Europe as documented on Candice’s Instagram, were reportedly able to return home and see him before his death.
His death revealed the carefully orchestrated fairytale life that Candace shared with the world on her Instagram and now-defunct blog, in which he appeared as the head of a happy-go-lucky, loving family that professed their love for each other every night as they split their time between luxury homes in the Hamptons and Manhattan.
“It’s not about keeping up with the Joneses anymore. It’s like keeping up with the Bezos, and no one can compete,” one Hamptons socialite told The Post.
“There is now a type of wealthy person that didn’t exist before. [the Millers] “They were working hard… They were living way beyond their means and now the truth is out. There are probably 10 or 20 people in the Hamptons who could be described as millionaires, but they certainly aren’t the ones sharing their lives on Instagram.”
Candice’s friends included Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, stylists Rachel Zoe and Ivanka Trump, and her cousin, fashion blogger Ariel Charnas of Something Navy, but she sparked both envy and indignation by flaunting what everyone assumed was her vast wealth and perfect family.
Candice is also head buyer at Tenet Shop in Southampton and runs a vintage-inspired clothing line called Black Iris.
She was proud Weekly Aida Bikaji facials cost $800 She had a membership to Tracy Anderson’s exercise studio, threw a $100,000 party, and spared no expense when marrying Brandon. We renewed our vows in 2019.The theme was “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
Sources told The Post that she has also downloaded feature-length movies while flying on private jets, which can cost thousands of dollars.
But while money was flowing out of the Millers’ hands like water, it was reportedly coming in at a slower pace. As questionable business deals and lawsuits piled up.
Two sources told the Post that Brandon had borrowed about $17 million from friends of the couple to buy a building in downtown Manhattan, but the building was sold to someone else, forcing Brandon to tell investors he’d used the money elsewhere.
In the months before his death, he had filed a number of lawsuits, including one over luxury furniture rentals and more than $50,000 in boat-related charges.
Brandon was sued by an interior designer on April 19 for “failing and refusing to pay” $102,730.27 for the company’s luxury rental services, according to the complaint obtained by The Washington Post.
He also “refused to return” $64,000 worth of furniture from Candace’s Park Avenue apartment, according to the lawsuit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court. The home was more than 4,300 square feet and had five bedrooms, a private elevator, and an 800-square-foot great room, according to listings. It was valued at about $11 million and paid just under $50,000 a month in rent.
The Millers moved into their TriBeCa penthouse after selling it for about $9 million.
Separately, Miller was sued by Lighthouse Marina on May 15 for failing to pay the remaining balance on his boat, the Miller Time, which had been docked at its facility in Long Island, New York, since October 2020.
Brandon inherited a commercial and residential real estate company. leakor Real Estate Equities Corporation, which he inherited from his father, shopping mall mogul Michael Miller, who died in 2016.
After Miller’s death, it was discovered that he had instructed an assistant to forge Brandon’s signature on loan documents related to a condominium construction project. The suit was settled, according to court records reported by The Real Deal.
Sources suggested to The Washington Post that Candace was pressuring her husband to live up to the lifestyle she portrayed on social media, but could not provide evidence.
Mama & Tata, which she runs with her sister, Jenna Crespi, and other online pages documented lavish vacations, including visits to the Plaza Athénée hotel in Paris (suites start at $2,500 a night) and La Residencia hotel in Mallorca ($2,000 a night), dinners prepared by private chefs, appearances at countless high-society charity events and a guest appearance at the opening of Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop gift shop.
What Candace knew about her family’s finances and when has been debated among those close to her, but a source told The Washington Post that she had no knowledge of her husband’s financial affairs.
The Post was unable to reach Candace Miller. Calls to Brandon and Candace Miller’s families went unanswered.
“A lot of marriages in the Hamptons and Manhattan are transactional,” a prominent Southampton socialite and businessman told The Washington Post, though he made it clear that this marriage did not fall into that category because the Millers had known each other since childhood.
“The guys are rich and the girls are beautiful. That’s their deal. But things have changed so much here that the pressure to keep up is immense.”
“Candace was showing off so much on social media, which made it harder for Brandon,” he added. “But they were by no means the only ones. There were a lot of people who borrowed money to rent big houses and throw parties to try to hang out with billionaires like Michael Rubin and Michael Loeb. The Millers were one of them. They weren’t top tier.”
But the famous socialites who frequent the Hamptons and the Upper East Side Conflict this.
“Anyone who blames Candace is a liar,” she said. “No way. Brandon obviously thought he was going to jail for embezzlement so he decided this was his way out.”
Another source told The Post that Miller has mental health issues and has not recovered from the death of his father.
“I was following her religiously,” Eric Gordon, president of Style House NYC and women’s clothing entrepreneur, told the Post. “I liked her look and her style, but after a while, seeing her flaunting it on vacations to Spain and Italy, I became a little skeptical and, frankly, a little tired of it. She and I would occasionally direct message each other, but after October 7, I messaged her and said, ‘Enough with posting about your glamorous lifestyle. You’re Jewish, speak up.’ To her credit, she reposted some of the posts, but something just didn’t feel right.”
Gordon himself publicly slammed Candice’s cousin, Arielle Charnas, for posting party photos to her Instagram account just four days after Brandon’s death.
“Give me a break. Your best friend’s husband is [died] “She’s disappeared. You and all of her crew should live your real lives and stop presenting things that aren’t true!” he wrote on Charnas’ Instagram.
Charnas did not return The Washington Post’s calls.
It’s unclear what Candace has plans for herself and her daughters, but their next chapter may be very different from their previous ones.
“What I really look forward to most days is coming home and having dinner with my husband and daughters, and then having the most delicious hugs before bed and professing our love for each other over and over again,” she told the mini magazine in 2019.
Mommy blogs and Reddit forums were filled with threads about Brandon Miller’s death.
“I feel embarrassed that I’m relieved that all of this wasn’t real,” one poster said. I have written On the DC Urban Mom blog.
“This is so sad,” one person wrote on Reddit. “Their kids will grow up and wish every day they could have had a simple life in the Midwest with their dad. I’m sure they loved him very much.”
Additional reporting by Janet Settembre
