There's something about professional scammers that seems to capture the public's attention. And nobody has had pop culture society in a chokehold quite like fake heiress Anna Delvey.
Back in 2022, we were entranced by the Russian-born fraudster's rags-to-faux-riches story when Netflix released their hit series Inventing Anna. The series chronicled the felon's journey, which saw her swindle millions before eventually landing in jail.
We were hooked.
But what has become of Anna Delvey — or, Anna Sorokin as we now know her formally — in 2024?
Well, if you've been online in recent weeks, you may have noticed that Anna Delvey is back in a big way. In fact, she's been Dancing With the Stars.
The convicted felon, who had been permitted to compete on the show while remaining under house arrest, made her debut on the competition reality series earlier this month, dancing to Sabrina Carpenter's 'Espresso' as the camera zoomed in on her bejewelled ankle monitor. Honestly? It's really a performance that needs to be seen to be believed, so here you go.
As one commenter wrote, "the ankle monitor will go down in history".
This week, teamed up with pro dancer Ezra Sosa, Delvey quickstepped to KT Tunstall’s 'Suddenly I See,' but with a lukewarm 17 out of 30, her dance dreams disappeared faster than she did when the 11 Howard Hotel check came due, and she was eliminated.
And while Anna may have waltzed off DWTS faster than you can say "wire transfer," don't think she left without dropping some golden VIP tea for a second.
Asked by host Julianne Hough what she’d take away from the experience following her elimination, Anna replied, "Nothing," before laughing. On Wednesday, she told Good Morning America that the best of the experience was "getting eliminated".
The convicted felon then accused the show of using her fame for their own benefit, which some could consider a little ironic, under the circumstances.
"I feel that the show so obviously used me to drive up the ratings, that they never had any plans to give me any chance to grow and only cared about exploiting me for attention," she said.
"It was predatory of them to try [to] make me feel inadequate and stupid all while I did get progressively better yet they chose to disregard that."
She didn't stop there, appearing soon on the Misspelling podcast with Tori Spelling, who had also been eliminated from DWTS the same night - which Anna dubbed "suspicious."
"The way I've been introduced into the public eye, I went through my criminal trial... they take pictures of you all day, every day for about seven hours, and there's nothing you can do about it," Anna shared of her public ice-queen persona. Unsurprisingly, getting the boot from DWTS stung a little. "Discarded so easily," was how Anna described it, adding that the whole experience felt "upsetting" and like "a waste of time".
As for her stone-faced exit words, "That was the truth," she said.
"I think like, 'Well you guys told me what I'm supposed to do, I tried to do it, and I still was rejected,'" she added. "Nothing is what I'm taking away from it. Because your advice was worthless."
But was she shocked by her elimination? Not so much. "It was not that surprising," she said, chalking it up to her younger fan base, who didn’t quite rally behind her when it came to votes.
As if that wasn’t enough, Anna couldn’t help but throw a little shade at her fellow contestants.
"It was embarrassing to be eliminated before some of the other contestants," she admitted, specifically calling out Eric Roberts and Reginald VelJohnson, who she claimed had lower scores. Still, she stood by her performance, saying her dancing was "decent" — at least by her standards.
She also had an explanation for her poker-faced performances: her classical ballet training.
"In ballet, you don’t smile," she said, baffled by the backlash over her stoic expression. To her, it was "jarring for people to demand women to smile in 2024," calling out what she saw as lingering "old patriarchal" expectations.
"You can only be good and considered to be good when you look pretty and smile," she added.
Responding to online comments accusing her of being tough on her dance partner, Ezra Sosa, Anna set the record straight.
"I’m not, like, some abuser," she said, clapping back at the haters who thought she was making Ezra’s life difficult.
"Either scenario, he wins. If I do well, he does well. If I do badly, it's my fault because he's the new one and I'm so bad and just negative." Still, she gave credit where it was due, sweetly calling Ezra "a very sweet person," proving that even the queen of grifts has a soft spot.
But that's not all Anna has been up to lately. Earlier this month, she also sat down for an interview with Ziwe. In true Ziwe fashion, the interview is wide-ranging and chaotic, and also probably needs to be seen to be believed.
A few highlights, however, are the part where Ziwe asks Anna, "Who's easier to rob, a nun or a baby?", and Anna laughs and responds, "I don't know... a baby doesn't have anything", and the part where Ziwe tells Anna that she "feels like AI".
But how did we get here, and what else is Anna up to? Let's dive in.
Her 'glam' house arrest.
After being found guilty of a litany of charges including attempted grand larceny in the first degree in 2019, Anna spent time in prison for her crimes. However, in 2021 after serving almost four years behind bars, she was released on a good behaviour bond.
However, that good behaviour only lasted her so long, with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) knocking on her door some six weeks later to take her into custody for overstaying her visa.
Then in 2022 (not long after Inventing Anna was released), it was widely rumoured that Anna would be deported to her native Germany. But those plans were scuppered when the 33-year-old quite literally refused to leave the ICE detention centre.
The matter was brought before the courts, where she pleaded not to be sent back to Germany. In October 2022, a New York judge ruled that Anna would be allowed to stay in the country as long as she remained under house arrest at an East Village residence.
It was decided that Anna would not pose a flight risk and would be allowed to stay, as long as she posted the $15,000 (AUD) bail. "She will be required to abide by conditions of release imposed both by the New York State Parole Board and immigration authorities, which, combined with her status as a public figure, will make it particularly difficult for her to avoid detection," ruled Judge Charles Conroy.
"For all of these reasons, the Court finds that Sorokin's risk of flight sufficiently mitigated."
Her social media ban.
As part of her bail conditions, Anna was also strictly prohibited from using social media — a huge blow for the wannabe socialite, who used platforms like Instagram to show off the spoils of her grifts.
Her lawyers told The Daily Beast that judge Charles Conroy handed down a ruling that meant she would be allowed to live under "24-hour confinement at the provided residential address for the duration of her immigration proceedings" as long as she stayed off social media.
This meant neither Anna nor a third party could post on any platform. But no-one said no to a podcast.
Really testing the limits of her bail conditions, in June 2023, Anna launched a podcast called The Anna Delvey Show, for which she has interviewed a number of high-profile guests.
Featuring people like comedian Whitney Cummings and journalist Taylor Lorenz, the series made light of her house-arrest and offered commentary around various topics du jour, such as OnlyFans, and quips about Anna's appearance.
The last episode aired back in August 2023, and there hasn't been an announcement about another season as yet.
And as for socialising? She's found a workaround for that, too. Because for someone addiction to rubbing shoulders with the elite, a life under 24-hour house arrest isn't exactly going to cut it. But if Anna can't go to the hottest events in NYC, she's going to find a way to bring the parties to her.
During New York Fashion Week in September 2023, the house-bound socialite hosted designer Shao Yang's show on her East Village apartment rooftop, with 50 guests in attendance. Sure the police rocked up, and the event had to move inside but dang, she kind of pulled it off.
How she's making money.
It's no secret that Anna appreciates the finer things in life — even if she can't afford them. In order to drum up a bit of revenue, the former con artist has held a number of exhibitions in New York over the past couple of years, with her artwork on display and very much for sale.
Despite not being able to attend for... obvious reasons, she left a little voice message that was played for guests:
"Hi everyone, Anna Delvey here," she said.
"I hope you guys are enjoying your evening so far. I'm so very excited to unveil my first-ever art collection, titled 'Allegedly.' This is a collection of sketches I've created while in Orange County Detention. I wanted to capture some of the moments of the past years, both never-seen-before and iconic, using the limited tools I have at my disposal.
"Some of the pieces are straightforward, others are more abstract and will be unique in meaning and appearance to the observer. I studied fashion illustration in Paris and haven’t really sketched until my trial."
She has since dabbled in the world of NFTs and presented (via Zoom) at Miami Art Week.
What's next for Anna Delvey.
It seems fame is only going to keep chasing Anna Delvey, with a docuseries based on her life reported to be going into production — although details around the project have been incredibly scarce. An opportunity for Anna to share her side of the story in the wake of the Netflix series, this project is set to be produced by Bunim-Murray Productions.
In addition to the docuseries, in January 2023 it was announced that Delvey's Dinner Club would begin filming inside her East Village apartment — a show documenting soirees from within her confinement.
"She'll do it through what's already become one of the hottest tables in town — invitation-only, intimate dinners at her home," read a press release from the production company.
"There, a Delvey-invited group of actors, musicians, founders, socialites, journalists and other esteemed guests will join her each week around a private-chef catered table, replete with candid conversations where no topic is off-limits —including Anna's experience within the criminal justice system, her strategy to rebuild her image and her plans for the future."
However, almost a year-and-a-half later we've yet to hear a peep about release dates or even where the docuseries and reality show will air. Stay tuned, we guess.
Feature Image: Getty.
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