Right when we thought the gap between the rich and the poor in America couldn’t get any wider, E!’s new reality show, “#RichKids of Beverly Hills,” has drawn a diamond-encrusted line in the sand between the mega-wealthy and, well, the rest of us.

Inspired by a popular Tumblr blog, Rich Kids of Instagram, the show follows five uber-rich, selfie-obsessed 20-somethings as they spend their way around one of country’s priciest zip codes. It was an instant hit, drawing more than 5.5 million viewers and garnering 37,000 Twitter mentions, making it the third-most talked about topic when it premiered last Sunday. 

Of course, not everyone has stars in their eyes for the young cast. Like the “Kardashians” and the “Real Housewives” before them, the “Rich Kids” are already feeling the wrath of public opinion.
While promoting their show on “Bethenny,” disgruntled audience members took to the mic to question the show’s values, calling them out for promoting materialism and bragging about wealth they hadn’t earned.

For their part, the rich kids say they fully expected the backlash. Cast member Morgan Stewart, who takes selfies like it’s an Olympic sport, was in the middle of reading a fresh stream of Instagram comments telling her to get a nose job when we spoke with her this week.  

“Putting yourself out there in an arena and showcasing how fortunate you are, I think, rubs people the wrong way," she said. "I'm really happy with the way the show's panned out and the more people watch the more they will relax with their negativity. You can take the Gaza Strip seriously. They don't need to take this reality show that seriously."

The high cost of high expectations

Convincing viewers that they're more than a bunch of kids running around spending their parents’ money will be an uphill battle, especially given the way it's been branded by E!, a network that has all but perfected the recipe for reality TV starlets.

“The title of the show is a little bit stressful for all of us,” Stewart said. “I think it’s made us live up to a lot of things that we aren’t 100% comfortable with putting out there. It’s not like we’re five kids that just don’t have any goals and have nothing to do or nothing to work for.”

Other cast members include Stewart’s boyfriend, Brendan Fitzpatrick, 25, a mini-real estate tycoon; Roxy Sowlaty, 25, a self-proclaimed “Persian Princess” who was “cut off” by her parents and is starting an interior design business; Johnny Drubel, 25, who’s an accomplished songwriter; and Dorothy Wang, 25, the "FunEmployed" daughter of billionaire Chinese retail magnate Roger Wang.

Of the five, Stewart, who doesn’t have a job outside the show, may have the most to prove. She took a stab at college life, spending a year studying communications at a local community college and another year at Pace University in New York, but eventually dropped out to move back home. After bouncing between gigs in event planning and personal assisting, she started a lifestyle blog in 2010, where she writes about — what else? — her life in Beverly Hills.

If all goes according to plan, “#RichKids” will be her ticket to a steady job and, hopefully, a career on camera. “I’d love for the blog to translate into a series of books or maybe a talk show,” she said. “I feel like [the show] is the most natural way to get there.”

Fitzpatrick is one of two cast members who supports himself financially. At 19, he sold his first house for $15 million and earns “in the millions” as an agent today. In defense of their public image, he said he’s driven by his parents’ success more than anything else.

“Growing up that way, with ‘no’ not being heard very often, is 100% what motivates me to work 10 times harder on my own,” he said in a phone interview. “I want to sustain the same lifestyle I’ve lived all my life. When you’re paying those bills on your own, you work pretty hard.”

Sowlaty cautions viewers against taking everything they see on the show seriously. In one of the premiere’s most talked-about moments, she drops half a million dollars at a department store as easily as most people would order a Big Mac.