Who is Anna Delvey?

Who is Anna Sorokin or her better known alias “Anna Delvey”? I’m sure some of you have seen the Netflix series “Inventing Anna”. This show looks into the life of Anna Delvey and whether she was a con artist or a daring business woman. This article also looks into the real facts of Anna’s story and what happened past the end of the Netflix series. Many wealthy bank associates believed she was actually a German heiress. However, she was seen not paying in many hotels that she stayed at. In the end, she was usually thrown onto the street.

Anna had been seen tipping hotel workers with these bills of cash. The hotel workers were fighting over spots to take up her bags or check her in. However, the form of payment was never written down. She claimed to have a wire coming through. Anna never paid during her stay there. They were fooled by her large tips and seeming royalty. However, she befriended one of the staff members here and ended up paying the full debt back to the hotel. This woman was Neff Davis. Their relationship began with Anna asking for advice. She suggested a few places to go, and Anna would slip her a $100 bill across the table. After a while she realized Anna already knew great places to go. She was stopping by because she wanted to talk to Neff. She was used to sitting down with guests, listening to them, and giving advice. After this, the guests just usually went on with their lives. However, Anna kept coming back to this hotel.

Anna treated the guests with what Neff described as classism, but she didn’t mind this. Neff said that Anna practically ran the hotel. She was allowed to walk out with items from the hotel. Anna was seen as a celebrity there. When the front desk had many people in line, Anna would stand to the side counting cash until Neff noticed. She would take the money even though she viewed Anna as a friend. Looking back, Neff views these actions as a little selfish. However, they continued to hang out while Anna made extravagant purchases for the both of them. Neff’s boyfriend was skeptical of her spending so much time with Anna. Anna didn’t understand why Neff kept her boyfriend. Neff protested that he was rich and willing to pay for her to direct her movie. Anna thought she should dump him, and she would give her money. Neff dumped her boyfriend. However, she said this was not because of what Anna had told her.

Photo source: Palmer, Emily. “A Fake Heiress Called Anna Delvey Conned the City's Wealthy. 'I'm Not Sorry,' She Says.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 10 May 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/10/nyregion/anna-delvey-sorokin.html.

Other sources: Pressler, Jessica. “How an Aspiring 'It' Girl Tricked New York's Party People - and Its Banks.” The Cut, 9 Feb. 2022, https://www.thecut.com/article/how-anna-delvey-tricked-new-york.html.

“Anna Sorokin Sues Ice, Claims She Got Covid after Jailers Refused to Give Her a Booster Shot.” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 3 Mar. 2022, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/anna-sorokin-sues-ice-claims-got-covid-jailers-refused-give-booster-sh-rcna18591.

Williams, Rachel DeLoache. “‘She Paid for Everything’: How a Fake Heiress Made My $62,000 Disappear.” Vanity Fair, 13 Apr. 2018, https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/04/my-misadventure-with-the-magician-of-manhattan.

TodayShow. “Where Is Anna Delvey Now? the Latest on the Woman Who Inspired 'Inventing Anna'.” TODAY.com, TODAY, 16 Mar. 2022, https://www.today.com/popculture/tv/anna-delvey-now-rcna15204.