Convicted scammer Anna Delvey – who’s real name is Anna Sorokin – has accused writer Rachel DeLoache Williams of “blatant hypocrisy” after Williams described a new Netflix series about the rise and fall of Sorokin as “celebrating a sociopathic, narcissistic, proven criminal”.
Inventing Anna, the nine-part fictionalised series which dropped on the streaming platform on 11 February, tells the story of how Sorokin was convicted of fraud and grand larceny after she conned acquaintances and big banks out of more than $200,000 (£147,000) while posing as a wealthy heiress named Anna Delvey.
Williams, a former photojournalist at Vanity Fair, first met Sorokin at a nightclub in 2016. The pair struck up a friendship and later went on a lavish trip to Marrakesh together.
After Sorokin allegedly failed to make payments for the holiday, she allegedly convinced Williams to pay the $62,000 (£45,000) bill. During her 2019 trial, a jury found Sorokin not guilty of larceny in the second degree relating to the alleged theft of money from Williams.
Speaking to Vanity Fair last week, Williams said Inventing Anna promoted a “dangerous” narrative.
“I think promoting this whole narrative and celebrating a sociopathic, narcissistic, proven criminal is wrong.
“Having had a front-row seat for far too long, I’ve studied the way a con works more than anybody needs to. You watch the spectacle, but you’re not paying attention to what’s being marketed.”
She added: “One person’s a criminal. The story profits her. This is a narrative designed to create empathy for a character who lacks it. The whole thing is very problematic.
Reacting to Williams’ comments, Sorokin accused her former friend of “refusing to move on from her contrived trauma”.
Taking to her Instagram stories with several lengthy paragraphs, Sorokin said Williams’ accusations against Inventing Anna were hypocritical.
“During her numerous public cries for attention claiming I ‘ruined’ her life, relentless Rachel DeLoache Williams conveniently forgets to mention the curious period of time during summer of ‘18 when she herself, along with her newly-acquired literary agent, were repeatedly harassing my lawyer Todd (both via email and phone) to get me to agree to write a book TOGETHER with Rachel,” she wrote.
“I guess ‘giving me [a] platform’ and ‘glorifying crime’ didn’t seem to be such concerns of Rachel’s back then.”
Williams, whose book My Friend Anna was released on 17 February, responded to Sorokin’s claims, telling the Independent: “I have no interest in feuding, but, with regard to Anna’s allegations on Instagram, I’ll leave the fiction-making to Anna and stick with the facts.
“Anna has proven herself to be a con artist and pathological liar. I, personally, would never have worked with her on a project of any kind.”
Sorokin also accuse Williams of “looking for things to get outraged about”, before adding: “Find yourself someone who’s dedicated to you the way Rachel is dedicated to my Twitter.”
“To this day Rachel DeLoache Williams clearly struggles to accept the fact that 12 jurors unanimously agreed I was NOT GUILTY of any charges related to her existence, and that nobody cares about anything she has to say unless she’s talking about me,” she said.
