SAN JOSE, CALIF. — In Feb. of 2022, Netflix released a new series called “Inventing Anna”, and it has stirred up talks about the fake socialite, Anna Delvey. She is famed for deceiving New York’s high society for hundreds of thousands of dollars. 

Delvey grew up in a middle-class household, but she had a big goal of buying Park Avenue in New York and making it an arts center. Being home to historically famous structures and a prized location for high-class business, the avenue is undoubtedly expensive to obtain. So, Delvey sought guidance from banks, financial advisors and public relations companies. Delvey entered her rich person character. The luxurious lifestyle started with staying at boutique hotels, dining at upscale restaurants and partying at every corner in New York. But she was also piling up bills. When they got suspicious, she fled New York. 

When she returned, Delvey duped an editor at Vanity Fair, Rachel Williams, into going to Morocco, staying at a 5-star lavish hotel, and paying $62,000 for it. At this time, Williams’ yearly salary barely reached $60,000. A junior at Silver Creek, Tayler Nguyen, expressed, “I think it was very selfish of Anna. It’s very sad how she has to take advantage of someone else for her own being.” Williams wrote an article for Vanity Fair, “It was a magic trick—I’m embarrassed to say that I was one of the props, and the audience, too. Anna’s was a beautiful dream of New York, like one of those nights that never seems to end. And then the bill arrives.” 

Things started catching up to her. The New York District Attorney charged and arrested her with grand larceny, falsifying documents and theft of services. Delvey’s real name is actually Anna Sorkin. She swindled banks, restaurants and hotels out of $250,000. In 2019, Delvey’s trial began.

She attended court styled by a fashion coordinator and a flashy lawyer. She even occasionally canceled a trial when she didn’t like her outfit that day. Lynda Truong, a Silver Creek student, commented, “That’s a little odd, but it also might’ve been like on purpose for her character.” Delvey was found guilty of eight charges and was sent to jail for 4-12 years. In an interview, she claimed, “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.”

Delvey was released in Feb. last year but is held back by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). While in custody, she creates a fanbase with the help of the series “Inventing Anna” and the use of her Instagram account (@theannadelvey). Negative messages occasionally pop up in her comment section, “Why are we glorifying a criminal? She lied and faked her way to the top, didn’t bother to pay and felt entitled to everything for having some sort of vision. That’s not admirable, it’s criminal behavior.”

But there are also praises for Delvey for “eating the rich ”. Positive comments, such as “You are iconic gurl!” and comments criticizing Williams, “Talking about Anna has become Rachel’s financial food. It’s probably the only way she’s able to pay her bills now.”, filled Delvey’s account. A freshman from Silver Creek, Arlyse Bunao, said, “I believe that Rachel shouldn’t receive backlash since she was the one who got scammed. Additionally, Rachel was poorer than her. Anna Sorkin is a special case of white privilege and she deserves her time in jail.”