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Whoopi Goldberg Criticizes ‘DWTS’ Casting of Con Artist Anna Delvey
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Whoopi Goldberg Criticizes ‘DWTS’ Casting of Con Artist Anna Delvey

It seems safe to say that Whoopi Goldberg and her fellow panelists on ABC’s The view won’t root for you Dancing with the stars‘contestant and fake heiress Anna Delvey this season.

On today’s episode of the talk show, Goldberg, Sunny Hostin and Alyssa Farah Griffin challenged the convicted con man’s participation in the upcoming season of the dance competition (also an ABC show).

After showing a short clip of Delvey and her professional partner Ezra Sosa joking about the bejeweled ankle bracelet Delvey is required to wear, she said she has permission from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to appear on the DWTS – said a stern Goldberg, “I think about all of these families whose family members have been arrested by ICE, who have gone to court to get their father, brother, mother back, and this woman, they gave her permission to do this?” Goldberg added, “Is there a two-tier system at ICE?”

Delvey was convicted in 2019 in a New York state court of theft and other crimes after posing as a German heiress and scamming thousands of dollars from various people and institutions. After serving two years in prison, she was released on probation but was taken into custody by ICE for overstaying her visa. She appealed, and last year she was ordered to wear an ankle monitor while confined to her Manhattan apartment.

In the clip with Sosa, Delvey said of the competition: “What’s the worst that can happen? Are they going to arrest me because I dance badly?”

Hostin said today: “If you think about it, she scammed so many people, and then spent about two years in prison and then another 18 months in prison for overstaying her welcome, overstaying her visa. So she committed another crime, and what’s the payoff? A bejeweled anklet and a spot on a TV show.”

Hostin compared Delvey’s DWTS casting for Gypsy-Rose Blanchard who became a reality TV star after being released from prison on charges of second-degree murder in the death of her mother Dee Dee Blanchard.

Griffin disagreed with the comparison.

“I’m here for a redemption arc, not a rehab arc,” Griffin said, adding that Blanchard, like Martha Stewart before her, took responsibility before returning to the public eye. “Gypsy-Rose has had her day,” she said, adding that Delvey “still owes people money.”

“Scammers often remain scammers,” said Griffin, who DWTS fellow players “be on your guard.”

When Joy Behar joked that Delvey seems to be getting her second chance “because she’s pretty,” Goldberg said, “Well, that’s a bit of a fallacy. I like pretty people too, but I have to say, I listen to people whine about what’s happening at the border and I listen to people whine about all these people who shouldn’t be here? Well, what the hell is going on? How does this work?”

“We have to support the network,” Goldberg said. “I understand all that, but this is a Bah towards people who are trying to return.”