A writer and photographer who was scammed for no money by false heiress Anna Delvey is suing Netflix for how she was portrayed in a hit series based on the scammer’s story.
Rachel DeLoache Williams is a former friend of Delvey, whose real name is Anna Sorokin, a German woman convicted of posing as a wealthy heiress to scam New York’s banks, hotels and socialites.
A version of the story was told in Inventing Anna series, starring Julia Garner as Delvey and Katie Lowes as Williams, which premiered Netflix in February 2022.
According to court documents obtained by the US affiliate of Sky News E! News, Williams is suing Netflix for breach of privacy and libel for the way she was portrayed on the show, with her attorney claiming she caused “devastating damage”.
The real Anna Sorokin, also known as Anna Delvey, was sentenced in 2019
‘Greedy, snobbish and dishonest’
Williams, who told her side of the story in her book My Friend Anna: The True Story of a Fake Heiress, published in 2019, says the Inventing Anna scenes portrayed her inaccurately, portraying her as “a greedy , snobbish, disloyal, dishonest, cowardly, manipulative and opportunistic person, “according to a lawsuit filed on Monday.
Her complaint also alleges that she was not “sponging” Sorokin, who was convicted in 2019, by “accepting gifts of expensive clothes, jewelry and accessories” or “allowing her to pay for all their drinks, meals, manicures and saunas.”
He also says that the scenes in the series where Lowes’ character abandons Anna on a trip to Morocco while she was “alone and in trouble” were not true.
Read more: Who is Anna Delvey?
Williams, who is a former Vanity Fair photo editor, also denied “lying to friends by hiding that she aided the police arrest,” as depicted in the series.
“In fact, he never did or said those things,” reads the lawsuit. “So, this action is firmly based on factual claims that are demonstrably false and on the attribution of claims that you have never made.”
Inventing Anna was a huge success for Netflix. In the lawsuit, Williams said the show’s popularity led her to become “the subject of thousands of such abusive messages” online.
Garner as Delvey in Inventing Anna. Photo: Nicole Rivelli / Netflix
Netflix “manages the PR of a scammer”
In an article written when the show launched, Williams said, “Netflix isn’t just publishing a fictional story. It’s actually running a scammer’s PR and putting money in her pocket.”
Williams’ attorney Alexander Rufus-Isaacs told E! News: “The reason we had to dismiss the case is because Netflix used Rachel’s real name and biographical details and made her a horrible person, which she’s not.”
He added: “The devastating damage to her reputation could have been avoided if only Netflix had used a fictional name and different details. Why didn’t they do it for her, when they did it for so many other characters in the series?”
Mr. Rufus-Isaacs suggested that the reason was that “he had chosen to play for the other team, namely HBO”.
According to the Williams website, HBO and Lena Dunham had optioned her book My Friend Anna, but that option has expired and the project is not in development.
The lawsuit targets a jury trial, as well as unspecified damages and an injunction for the removal of alleged defamatory material involving Williams from Inventing Anna.
Sky News reached out to Netflix and Sorokin reps for comment.
