Netflix and Shonda Rhimes’s creation, Inventing Anna, shows us the real side of rich people. All rich people may not be financially rich, but some love to flaunt their fake lifestyle, just like the Fake German Heiress aka Anna Delvey. Inventing Anna explores the life of Anna Delvey, a scam artist who conned some of the rich society of New York City, including hotels, restaurants, and banks from 2015 to 2017. Delvey’s real name is Anna Sorokin, who claims herself as the fake German heiress with millions of dollars in her pocket.

Journalist Jessica Pressler, in 2019, wrote an article about the lifestyle of Anna Delvey for the New York magazine, titled, How Anna Delvey Tricked New York’s Party People. However in 2019, the Court found her guilty and she was sentenced to prison.

However, one of Anna’s former friends basing the Netflix series on “running a con woman’s PR.” Let’s see what she has to say.

A former friend of Anna slams Netflix’s Inventing Anna

In the series, Katie Lowes plays Rachel DeLoache Williams Delvey’s friend from her inner circle, who got stuck with a $62,000 bill. She claims in an essay for Air Mail that the Netflix show is making a fraudster into a star again. She says, “repositioning the character of Anna Delvey from fraudster to front-row.”

Rachel DeLoache Williams was a photo editor for Vanity Fair in New York City when she met Anna Delvey and they instantly became friends. In conversation with Harper’s Bazaar in 2019, she explains, “Personally, it didn’t occur to me. I mean, how do you ever know anybody? I don’t ask someone where they’re from and think they’re making up their entire identity.” 

After a year, Anna Delvey invites Willaims for an all-paid trip to Marrakesh, Morroco. But little did she know that she will have to pay for their entire trip. It included flights, expensive meals, shopping, expenses of the lavish villa they were staying in. The bill ended up being $62,000, which is a lot more Willaims made in a year. Delvey lied to her that her credit card is stopped working, and requested Delvey to pay all the expenses. But, she never pays her back.

William writes in Air Mail, “Take it from someone who knows: This is the art of the con, a shell game that proffers irresistible thrills for low stakes, while a sleight-of-hand carries out the high-roller business unseen. Netflix isn’t just putting out a fictional story… and putting money in her pocket.”