Kriti Mehrotra
With luxurious properties, feisty realtors, and catty interpersonal drama, Netflix’s ‘Selling the OC’ lives up to its parent reality series in almost every way imaginable for our sheer entertainment. The only difference is that while we’d obviously expected to see both co-founders of the featuring Oppenheim Group brokerage on our screens, one of them was significantly missing throughout. After all, since twin brothers Jason and Brett Oppenheim have always been a constant on ‘Selling Sunset,’ the latter’s significant absence here has definitely been extremely strange.
Reasons For Brett Oppenheim’s Absence
‘Selling the OC’ is honestly just the product of The Oppenheim Group’s initial expansion from Los Angeles to Orange County, where a different real estate team navigates every aspect of their lives. Therefore, because Brett is no longer a direct part of this particular business in any way, shape, or form, he simply has no reason to show up at this Corona Del Mar office or any related events. He is thus not a constant presence on our screens – though he does briefly appear from time to time, which, we’re not going to lie, has given us hope in terms of seeing him again in the future.
However, there were not even passing glimpses of Brett in season 3 — like there have continued to be in the original despite the fact he started phasing out in 2020 itself — as his base is still Los Angeles. The news of him having “left” the brokerage “to start his own” was actually disclosed by ‘Selling Sunset’ star Christine Quinn to Glamour UK back then, only for Jason to soon explain the situation. “That was really a semantic change,” Jason told The Daily Express. “He’s always been a broker, so he’s hanging his license separately, but it doesn’t mean that we’re not working together.”
The twin continued, “It’s not like [Brett is] starting another brokerage, getting an office, and hiring agents — none of that’s happened.” Jason also admitted that although they’ve faced their fair share of difficulties over the years, there are no major problems between them. “I think brothers naturally have a very strong bond,” he said. “But I think when you’re identical twin brothers I think it’s a unique bond that I think only identical twins understand and share. I mean I think it’s probably the closest bond that exists on the planet among humans.” Yet Brett did leave altogether.
Instead of holding the post of Broker Associate and Senior Vice President of The Oppenheim Group, which he once proudly did, Brett is now the President and Broker of Oppenheim Real Estate. The latter is his successful family brokerage in Los Angeles (established in 1889 as The Stern Realty Co.), but the undeniably esteemed fifth-generation realtor is the sole owner-operator today.
Nevertheless, it’s imperative to note that the developer, investor, attorney, public speaker, and educator does continue to have a hand in not just The Oppenheim Group (as Jason’s business partner) but also the ‘Selling’ franchise. This is evident through the way Brett is involved in opening new offices for the brokerage, is credited in ‘Selling the OC,’ and is even close to the Newport Beach office’s agents.
In fact, in an August 22, 2022, interview with Today, Brett revealed the Orange County team came together rather naturally over a few years by stating, “We just met people in different ways. And it was just very organic. And I love the way it all came about. I got really lucky.” As if that’s not enough, he opened up to People regarding this same team as cast members of the reality series as well.
Brett said, “[The OC cast] had the advantage of following us [and knowing what they signed up for]. They had the confidence of seeing that if you’re yourself, you’re going to come across as yourself for the most part. That allowed them to be more comfortable, which also led to arguably a better season one than [‘Selling Sunset’] had. They came out of the gate more comfortable and stronger.” Plus, he added, their younger age allowed “them to give less F’s.” In other words, he’s simply working a little more independently now.
Read More: Is Selling the OC Real or Scripted?
