In a bizarre programming move, ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars” has cast fake heiress Anna Delvey, of grand larceny and fraud fame, as one of the contestants this season. Competing against Olympic gold medalist Stephen Nedoroscik (who you can’t tell me isn’t really Clark Kent/Superman), the latest “Bachelorette” Jenn Tran, NBA star Dwight Howard and others, Delvey has the dubious honor of being the only competitor this season who had to obtain permission from the federal government before she was able to travel to Los Angeles to film the show. Her current bond conditions restrict her to travel within only 70 miles of her residence.
Delvey, whose real name is Anna Sorokin, was convicted 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 services. She was acquitted of two counts, including attempting to steal more than $1 million from a bank.
Delvey has achieved the kind of viral notoriety reserved for bad-behaving celebrities.
Nicknamed the “fake heiress,” she was accused by prosecutors of ripping off friends, strangers and businesses by pretending that she was due to inherit a German megafortune. Her crime spree of stealing, forging and basically grifting for years was made into a hit Netflix series, “Inventing Anna,” created by Shonda Rhimes and starring Julia Garner in the title role. In short, Delvey has achieved the kind of viral notoriety reserved for bad-behaving celebrities.
After her conviction, Delvey was sentenced to four to 12 years in prison and was ordered to pay a $24,000 fine and restitution in the amount of about $200,000. She ended up serving just under four years at Rikers Island jail. Upon her early release for good behavior in February 2021, she was supposed to immediately return to Germany, but instead she stayed. More specifically, Immigration and Customs Enforcement alleges that she overstayed her visa in the United States. Delvey was then arrested by immigration authorities in March 2021 and held in detention for 17 months before she was released on house arrest with an electronic monitoring bracelet to track her comings and goings. Delvey is still fighting her deportation, seeking asylum and insisting that she must stay in the U.S. so she can appeal her criminal conviction.
While her lengthy deportation proceedings continue and she remains out of custody, Delvey has able to earn an income and chase her celebrity status. She started a podcast while on house arrest and has done several interviews. She’s sold her prison artwork. She posts on social media and has secured media deals; Vogue has even filmed a tour of her apartment. But it’s not as if Delvey has escaped legal troubles in the meantime. She was accused of not paying her rent and was sued by her landlord, who alleged in legal filings that she owed more than $12,000. She ended up moving out. And that Netflix deal? Delvey sold the rights to her story for $320,000, but in the state of New York, criminals can’t profit from their crimes, so she had to pay her victims back first.
In a day and age when Americans expect heartfelt and sincere mea culpas from other criminal defendants who have done the crime and done their time and now express deep regret for their wrongdoings, Delvey’s lack of remorse greatly offends. While countless others don’t have the luxury of being out of custody and remain locked up pending their own deportation hearings, the “fake heiress” remains out of custody, boasting a bejeweled electronic ankle monitor that Women’s Wear Daily wrote an entire article about. Folks are understandably not rooting for her.
On the season premiere of “DWTS,” the studio audience was apparently deadly silent after her dancing debut. The three judges each gave her a 6 out of 10 for her performance. The phrase “Anna Delvey’s Lackluster DWTS Debut” was trending on X. She’s no one’s favorite to win.
People are left to wonder if the con continues as Delvey makes money. She insisted on rejecting a plea deal, and her defense during trial was that she did nothing wrong. Her lawyer argued to the jury that she “exploited a system … and told little white lies along the way.” He went on to justify Delvey’s conduct with this: “Everyone lies when it’s convenient to them … and Anna did the same thing. She couldn’t be 100% honest because no one would listen to her.”
This is a show that had former Trump White House press secretary Sean Spicer dancing in a ruffled, neon-yellow and green shirt and beating bongo drums. One day after being convicted by a jury of her peers, Delvey told The New York Times: “The thing is, I’m not sorry. I’d be lying to you and to everyone else and to myself if I said I was sorry for anything. I regret the way I went about certain things.” When asked if she would do the same things again, she replied: “Yes, probably so,” while laughing. It’s really not that shocking that “DWTS” saw the entertainment value behind casting Delvey. I mean, this is a show that had former Trump White House press secretary Sean Spicer dancing in a ruffled, neon-yellow and green shirt and beating bongo drums. Spicer routinely lied on behalf of Donald Trump and even to this day defends his tenure in that administration. When it comes down to it, Delvey’s inclusion really isn’t that surprising if you consider the fact that we have a man who has been convicted of 34 felony counts running for the highest office in the land — a man who also refuses to own up to his wrongdoings and to express any remorse or regret for the harm he has caused. Delvey wrote to Trump in 2021 to give him advice on how to navigate life in prison and how to thrive as a “model prisoner.” In her letter, she told Trump: “Not only was I surviving, I was thriving, and if I can do it, so, most likely, can you.” After her debut, Delvey told “DWTS” co-host Julianne Hough that she has reinvented herself many times, and this time she’s a ballroom dancer. But Delvey needs to remember that reinvention is not remorse or regret, and she seems to be sorely lacking in both.
Katie S. Phang
Katie S. Phang is the host of "The Katie Phang Show," which airs Saturdays at 12 p.m. ET on MSNBC. She is a legal contributor for NBC News and MSNBC based in Miami. She leverages her significant trial attorney experience to provide analysis and commentary on the latest legal issues. 
