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Pop culture has sunk to a new low with Anna Delvey on ‘DWTS’
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Pop culture has sunk to a new low with Anna Delvey on ‘DWTS’

She’s got guts, but does she have the moves?

We’ll soon find out when con artist Anna Delvey – who spent nearly four years in prison for posing as a German heiress to bilk hotels, socialites and banks out of $250,000 – takes a shot at the Mirrorball Trophy.

It was announced on Wednesday that she’s joining the new season of “Dancing with the Stars,” along with retired NFL wide receiver Danny Amendola, Olympians Ilona Maher and Stephen Nedoroscik and a few reality stars looking to stay relevant.

The press release from Disney-owned ABC shamelessly sanitized Delvey’s resume, calling her “an artist, fashion icon and notorious New York socialite who gained international attention after Netflix bought the rights to her story and developed it into the 2022 miniseries ‘Inventing Anna.'”

However, the show’s Wikipedia page was more accurate in its description: “convicted fraudster.”

The official announcement showed Delvey, born Anna Sorokin, in a glittering, thigh-length gold dress that showcased her most important accessory: her ankle bracelet.

That’s her trick, after all. The wink, the nod. She’s still a bad girl — locked up by ICE — under house arrest, only now a judge has extended her “home” range by nearly 3,000 miles.

Con artist Anna Delvey spent nearly four years in prison for defrauding socialites, banks and hotels. Now she’s set to compete on “Dancing With the Stars.” Steven Hirsch
Fake German heiress Anna Delvey wears her ankle bracelet in the show’s promotional photo. Disney

Delvey is what you would call an ambitious convict, someone who proves that crime does pay. She has parlayed her criminal notoriety into a career as a downtown it-girl with fashion connections and a fawning press.

Under house arrest since 2022 and apparently still facing the threat of deportation, Russian-born Delvey has hosted star-studded dinners in her East Village apartment, sold her artwork, and started a podcast. She’s scheduled to walk the SHAO runway at next week’s New York Fashion Week.

She is the resident ‘deception analyst’ for the American show ‘The Anonymous’, a reality competition program in which people lie to each other.

Anna Delvey, who has turned her infamous image into her profession, walks with her dance partner Ezra Sosa. GC images

God bless America.

In 2022, Netflix released the Shonda Rhimes-created miniseries “Inventing Anna,” based on a sensational article in New York Magazine. Delvey was played by Emmy winner Julia Garner as enigmatic but brilliant, a sort of Robin Hood. Her victims, meanwhile, were portrayed as greedy, shallow social climbers who got what they deserved. (The money she made from the show went to restitution.)

“I’m not trying to glorify my crimes or make anyone believe that this is the way to become famous,” she told Jake Tapper in 2022.

In the miniseries “Inventing Anna,” Julia Garner plays Anna Delvey as an enigmatic and slightly heroic figure. AARON EPSTEIN/NETFLIX

And yet she has made her illegal actions her sole identity, wearing her ankle bracelet as if it were a rare Cartier piece.

In 2019, Delvey was imprisoned for her white-collar crimes and released in early 2021 for good behavior. She was then detained by ICE for overstaying her U.S. visa and released on house arrest on bail.. She could still be deported, but why let something as petty as immigration rules ruin her chance at the American dream?

I even know people who can’t visit the US because they overstayed their visa, and they haven’t scammed anyone.

In June, Delvey, posing as a German heiress while defrauding hotels, banks and friends, arrived at an immigration hearing. Stephen Yang

But Delvey was given a citizen service number and allowed to post photos of herself on social media, where she showed portraits of herself to her million followers.

There is a part of me that admires the shameless hustle. A small part of me.

But why is Delvey still on American soil after breaking the law? Why is he taking jobs from other cowardly influencers desperate for the hit of fame that comes from dancing the tango on network TV?

Anna Delvey at the September 2023 fashion show on the roof of a building in the East Village.

“I think I deserve a second chance. It was my mistake that I made and I served my sentence. I think I deserve a second chance,” she said.

In the meantime, she can just tap dance and ignore our legal system.