Netflix, Shonda Rhimes recreate famous Anna Delvey fake German heiress scam in 'Inventing Anna'

Genius TV showrunner Shonda Rhimes takes us into the world of the infamous fake German heiress, socialite Anna Delvey, real name Anna Sorokin, who scammed New York’s wealthiest out hundreds of thousands of dollars, in Inventing Anna on Netflix (released Feb. 11), starring Julia Garner.

“Anna Delvey is a masterpiece bitches,” Garner, says as Sorokin.

Frankly, that’s incredibly accurate. Not only was Sorokin, as Delvey, able to con people, businesses and banks, claiming she had a family fortune and a trust of more than $60 million, once she was arrested she became a phenomenon. People were constantly waiting to see what outfit she would be wearing during her 2019 trial, after she hired a stylist to pick out designer outfits, while incarcerated at Rikers Island jail. There were even t-shirts made with the text “Fake German Heiress,” which were in incredibly high demand.

So what is it about Sorokin that made her so convincing, so likeable, so seemingly trustworthy but brilliantly evil, who became even more popular and famous while in jail? That’s what Rhimes explores in Inventing Anna.

Famous friends, lavish lifestyle documented

Followers of Anna Sorokin’s story will likely know who Rachel DeLoache Williams is, a former Vanity Fair employee who was a personal friend of Sorokin. That is, until they took a trip to Morocco, which is recreated in Inventing Anna. Through a series of scenarios of Sorokin dodging invoices and credit card payments, Williams ended up being scammed out of US$62,000.

Williams shared her story in a first-person piece for Vanity Fair in 2018 and then wrote the popular book “My Friend Anna: The True Story of a Fake Heiress,” both of which chronicle her friendship with Sorokin and how she was coerced into her scam.

But Inventing Anna isn’t about DeLoache Williams’ perspective. In fact, the series very much positions her as quite ditsy, simply around Sorokin to take advantage of the perks, free trips, spa visits, clothing and dinners galore. The general sentiment is even though she lost money and it was completely traumatic to navigate how to get herself out of this debt, she got a lot of freebies as well.

The central focal point of the show is from the perspective of Anna Chlumsky’s character Vivian Kent, inspired by journalist Jessica Pressler, who wrote an article in 2018 for New York Magazine titled "Maybe She Had So Much Money She Just Lost Track of It." If Pressler’s name sounds familiar, she also wrote the 2015 article "The Hustlers at Scores,” which became the genesis for the Jennifer Lopez movie Hustlers.

Pressler’s story on Sorokin outlines how the fake heiress spent money she didn’t have, on dinners, tips, trips, and designer clothing and accessories. She even called “pharma bro” Martin Shkreli a close friend, who played her the Tha Carter V Lil’ Wayne album he acquired, and hung out with Macaulay Culkin. Notably now, after the Fyre Festival disaster and resulting documentaries, Sorokin actually crashed with fellow con artist Billy McFarland in his SoHo loft headquarters for months.

Ultimately, Sorokin was on a quest to create the Anna Delvey Foundation (ADF), an arts space and social club. She was really meeting people to be able to make her ADF dream a reality, but when it came to getting financing, she posed as the financial advisor for her family fortune in an attempt to get $22 million from banks as a loan.

Julia Garner, Anna Chlumsky carry the show

The format of Shonda Rhimes’ Inventing Anna has the characteristics of some of the teen dramas from the 2000s/2010s, like Gossip Girl, which is appropriate given the life that Anna Sorokin was living and paying for.

The entire cast of characters, and there are many of them, hold up this almost unbelievable story but it’s Julia Garner and Anna Chlumsky that really steal the show.

You can’t discuss Inventing Ann without mentioning the accent that Garner developed for the role, her mix of Russia, German and American accents all wrapped into this very bizarre mix that you really can’t get out of your head. But that’s why it works so well, it’s almost uncomfortably intoxicating, just like Sorokin’s appeal.

Chlumsky plays a reporter who, after a story-gone-wrong situation, is trying to redeem herself by busting open Sorokin’s life, all while pregnant and getting closer to her due date.

Something particularly refreshing with Chlumsky’s portrayal of Vivian Kent is that it shows what many women experience in real life, having a child but also having professional aspirations, and why should those career goals be pushed aside.

In one scene, the journalist starts to cry at her doctor’s appointment when she finds out she’s having a girl.

“I’ve run out of time,” she says, in reference to having to finish this Sorokin story before her daughter is born.

When her husband, played by Anders Holm, tries to console her, she says, “if you tell me my joy of having a daughter is supposed to make up for the loss of career, the loss of the thing that lights up my brain, I swear to god I will smother you in your sleep.”

As blunt as that is, women who want to prioritize career goals, something that, when men do it, is considered completely “normal,” is certainly a worthy addition to the story.

Men too focused on Anna Delvey being a young woman to notice her scam

Misogyny, more broadly, is also at the core of Anna Sorokin’s story. Networking with some of New York’s most prominent finance men, Inventing Anna shows people disregarding her based on her age (she was just in her 20s when she was trying to get her foundation off the ground), pushed to the side because she’s a woman and experiencing unwanted advances from powerful men who cared more about her ass than her business.

What’s unique in Sorokin’s story is that there were legitimate reasons for them to dismiss her proposals, she never actually had any money and her whole identity had been fabricated, but they were too busy fussing over her being a young woman to notice.

Some people say they want to be powerful but anonymous, while others want to be famous and the amount of authority they have isn’t particularly relevant. Sorokin clearly was on a quest for both.

Sorokin calls herself an “icon” and a “legend” in Inventing Anna, which seemed to be her true goal.

“New York is swimming in capital but talent, that’s hard to come by…genius is rare,” Sorokin says in Inventing Anna.

In 2019, Sorokin was found guilty of one count of attempted grand larceny, three counts of grand larceny and four counts of theft services. She was sentenced to 12 years in jail but was released in February 2021 and was taken into custody by ICE for overstaying her visa.

Sorokin wrote a piece for Insider earlier this month, sharing her thoughts on her case, the Netflix show and remaining in ICE custody while she waits to see if she will be deported to Germany.