In a bizarre programming move, ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars” has hired fake heiress Anna Delvey, known for grand theft and fraud, as one of this season’s contestants. She’s competing against Olympic gold medalist Stephen Nedoroscik (who you can’t tell me isn’t actually Clark Kent/Superman), the newest “Bachelorette” Jenn Tran, NBA star Dwight Howard and others. Delvey has the dubious honor of being the only contestant this season who had to get federal government approval before traveling to Los Angeles to film the show. Her current bail conditions prohibit her from traveling within just a 70-mile radius of her residence.
Delvey, whose real name is Anna Sorokin, was found guilty by a jury in 2019 on eight counts of theft: one count of attempted grand larceny, three counts of grand larceny and four counts of theft of services. She was acquitted on two counts, including attempting to steal more than $1 million from a bank.
Delvey has achieved the kind of viral fame that only comes to celebrities with bad behavior.
Prosecutors accused her of defrauding friends, strangers and businesses by pretending she would inherit a German mega-fortune. Her years-long crime spree of theft, forgery and fraud was adapted into the hit Netflix series “Inventing Anna,” created by Shonda Rhimes and starring Julia Garner. In short, Delvey has achieved the kind of viral fame reserved only for celebrities who behave badly.
After her conviction, Delvey was sentenced to four to twelve years in prison and had to pay a fine of $24,000 and restitution of about $200,000. She served almost four years in Rikers Island prison. After her early release for good behavior in February 2021, she was supposed to return to Germany immediately, but instead she stayed. More specifically, Immigration and Customs Enforcement claims that she covered her visa in the United States. Delvey was then arrested by immigration authorities in March 2021 and held for 17 months before being released under house arrest with an electronic monitoring bracelet to track her comings and goings. Delvey is still fighting her deportation, applying for asylum and insisting that she must remain in the U.S. so she can appeal her conviction.
While her lengthy deportation proceedings continue and she remains out of custody, Delvey has been able to earn money and pursue her celebrity status. While on house arrest, she started a podcast and gave several interviews. She has sold her prison artwork. She posts on social media and has landed media deals; Vogue even filmed a tour of her apartment. But it’s not like Delvey has escaped legal trouble in the meantime. She was accused of not paying her rent and was sued by her landlord, who claimed in legal documents that she owed more than $12,000. She ended up moving out. And the Netflix deal? Delvey sold the rights to her story for $320,000, but in New York state, criminals can’t profit from their crimes, so she had to compensate her victims first.
At a time when Americans expect a heartfelt and sincere plea of guilt from other defendants who have committed their crimes, served their sentences, and now express deep regret for their wrongdoings, Delvey’s lack of remorse is deeply offensive. While countless others don’t have the luxury of release from custody and remain incarcerated pending their own deportation hearings, the “fake heiress” is still out of custody and boasts a jewel-encrusted electronic ankle bracelet that Women’s Wear Daily wrote an entire article about. People are understandably not cheering her on.
At the season premiere of “DWTS,” the studio audience was apparently dead silent after her dance debut. The three judges each gave her 6 out of 10 points for her performance. The phrase “Anna Delvey’s lackluster DWTS debut” was on X’s lips. She is no one’s favorite to win.
One wonders if the fraud is continuing while Delvey is making money. She insisted on refusing a plea deal and defended herself in court by saying she had done nothing wrong. Her lawyer argued to the jury that she had “taken advantage of a system… and told little white lies along the way.” He justified Delvey’s behavior by saying, “Everyone lies when it suits them… and Anna did the same thing. She couldn’t be 100% honest because no one was listening to her.”
At the show, former Trump White House press secretary Sean Spicer danced in a neon yellow and green ruffled shirt and played bongos.
A day after her conviction by a jury of her fellow defendants, Delvey told the New York Times: “The thing is, I’m not sorry. I would be lying to you and to everyone else and to myself if I said I was sorry about anything. I regret the way I went about certain things.” When asked if she would do the same things again, she laughed and replied: “Yeah, probably.”
It’s really not that shocking that “DWTS” recognized the entertainment value behind casting Delvey. I mean, this is a show that featured former Trump White House press secretary Sean Spicer dancing and banging bongo drums in a ruffled neon yellow and green shirt. Spicer regularly lied on behalf of Donald Trump and to this day defends his tenure in that administration.
Ultimately, Delvey’s inclusion on the list isn’t really surprising considering we have a man convicted on 34 counts running for the highest office in the land – a man who also refuses to admit his wrongdoings and show any remorse or regret for the harm he has caused. Delvey wrote to Trump in 2021 to offer advice on how to navigate life in prison and succeed as a “model inmate.” In her letter, she wrote to Trump, “I have not only survived, I have thrived, and if I can, you most likely can too.”
After her debut, Delvey told “DWTS” co-host Julianne Hough that she has reinvented herself many times, and this time she is a ballroom dancer. But Delvey has to remember that reinvention does not mean remorse or regret, and she seems to be sorely lacking both.
