Con Woman Anna Delvey With Celebrities She Fooled
The story of Anna Delvey (real name Anna Sorokin) is so unbelievable it’s almost hard to believe it’s true. Brought to life in the Netflix series Inventing Anna, which is based on The Cut article by Jessica Pressler and created by Shonda Rhimes, the fascinating series brings Delvey’s incredible tale to life.
Actress Julia Garner plays Delvey, the New York socialite who conned the world’s high fliers into believing she was a German heiress. There are many photos of Anna Delvey with celebrities she fooled that show just how far up the social ladder she climbed. Through a series of scams, Delvey managed to fulfill her dreams of fame and fortune, pulling one over a long list of celebrities and famous people, including Julia Fox, Billy McFarland, and Macaulay Culkin.
Through a combination of fake financial documents, fraudulent checks, and dodgy wire transfers, Delvey managed to deceive all those she came in contact with. Here scams eventually caught up with her, and she was arrested in 2017. The Soho Grifter served two years in prison and is currently on 24-hour house arrest with electronic monitoring and no access to social media.
Many different celebrities fell victim to Delvey’s scams, with some of the con artist’s strangest and most public interactions listed below.
1. Julia Fox
Similar to Anna Delvey, Julia Fox is a high-profile socialite who enjoyed time in the spotlight recently after hooking up with Kanye West. Delvey and Fox met through social media (as you do) and formed a firm friendship. The two had an in-depth chat when Delvey joined Fox’s Clubhouse chat room one day and really connected.
Despite being found guilty of scamming multiple people, Fox’s love and friendship for Delvey remains. She has continued to support her con artist friend, even taking to Instagram to give her a shout-out for an interview she did from behind bars. If only we all had friends like Fox in our lives.
2. Macaulay Culkin
Poor old Macaulay Culkin had the misfortune of crossing paths with Anna Delvey during her time hobnobbing with the stars. While it doesn’t seem like the two were close, they did run into each other on several occasions, with Culkin even sitting next to Delvey at a dinner she hosted at the Michelin-star restaurant Le Coucou. Hopefully he didn’t get conned into paying the entire bill.
3. Rachel DeLoache Williams
Former Vanity Fair photographer Rachel Williams is the person who finally helped take down Anna Delvey. Williams and Delvey first met at a New York City nightclub in 2016 and became good friends. The two would often hang out and even went on holiday together. But this is when things got dodgy. Delvey’s credit card refused to work, so Williams agreed to pay for the trip, which came to a massive $62,000, believing Delvey would pay her back.
That didn’t happen and Williams eventually contacted both the New York City Police Department and County District Attorney for help retrieving her cash. She helped them track Delvey down in Los Angeles and would give crucial evidence against Delvey that landed her in jail. Since the incident, Williams has written a book about her experiences, My Friend Anna: The True Story of a Fake Heiress, and has turned her misfortune into deals with HBO and other content creators.
4. Neffatari “Neff” Davis
Neff Davis (played by Alexis Floyd in the series) was the concierge at 11 Howard hotel where Anna Delvey stayed during her time in New York. The two stuck up a friendship, with Delvey often tipping Davis $100 for restaurant recommendations and even working alongside her on occasions.
Once Delvey left the hotel, Davis had no idea what happened to her, and it was only after being contacted by The New York magazine journalist Jessica Pressler did she realize Delvey was in Rikers Island serving time.
Despite all this, Daivs still considers Delvey a friend and has used her newfound fame to land a consulting gig and is pursuing her dreams of being a filmmaker.
5. Olivier Zahm
At one point Anna Delvey was an intern at Purple Magazine under the guidance of editor-in-chief Olivier Zahm. It’s believed the two became quite chummy during Delvey’s time at the magainze. It’s not clear if the two remain friends, with Zahm having not mentioned Delvey in any social media posts since she got busted.
6. Chloe Fineman
Chloe Fineman hasn’t ever met Anna Delvey, but she did have a strange interaction with her after starring in an SNL skit mocking the show Inventing Anna. Delvey enjoyed the skit and Fineman’s work so much that she sent her a message. Not only that, but she also included a drawing of the skit she did for Fineman.
Fineman took to Instagram to thank Delvey for the drawing, posting a video where she says; “This just came in the mail. Thank you so much, Anna Delvey. I am honestly speechless and blown away. It’s very VIP. I’m very exclusive.”
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7. DJ Elle Dee
Having DJed around New York for over a decade, DJ Elle Dee has seen it all. So it’s no surprise she was a little skeptical when first encountering Anna Delvey. The pair initially met in 2014 at Montauk in the Hamptons. Delvey wanted to share a room with Dee and her friend, but the two cited the cramped conditions as a reason for not allowing her to stay, when in fact they were both suss of this mysterious woman who barely spoke to them. When she saw Delvey sleeping in a car out front of the hotel the next day, despite having been told she was a millionaire, red flags were raised.
Over the course of many months, Dee would bump into Delvey at events and nightclubs and always found her to be “odd.” They had many weird encounters, including Delvey trying to get Dee to pay a $35,000 hotel bill, but thankfully Dee never got scammed.
8. Billy McFarland
Billy McFarland and Anna Delvey are like two peas in a pod. McFarland is the man responsible for the failed Fyre Festival, who would be found guilty of fraud and ended up serving four years in prison for his dodgy deals.
While they weren’t super tight, Delvey was close with many of McFarland’s good friends and managed to weasel her way into his life, staying at his home for an extended period of time. But when she got angry about being asked to pay rent or provide money for bills, she was kicked out by McFarland, ending any sort of friendship she had with him and his mates.
9. André Saraiva
He might not be familiar to everyone, but André Saraiva is a big deal in the New York club scene. He is the owner of the nightclub Le Baron (both in NYC and Paris) and is often seen chatting with famous faces who come to his clubs. One of those was Anna Delvey who he is said to have become close with during her time in the Big Apple.
10. Martin Shkreli
Anna Delvey and Martin Shkreli crossed paths during her time in the spotlight. In Inventing Anna, the “Pharma Bro” is seen at a dinner with Delvey where he shows everybody his early copy of Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter V. This story is all true, with Shkreli remembering Delvey calling him a “dear friend,” despite just having met.
11. Tommy Saleh
Tommy Saleh is another high-profile celebrity who came across Anna Delvey during her days as a con artist. The two first crossed paths in 2013 at Le Baron in Paris during Fashion Week. They were regularly seen out together, with Saleh saying, “She was at all the best parties,” in The Cut article about Delvey.
12. Michael Xufu Huang
Similar to Rachel Williams, poor Michael Xufu Huang got cheated out of his hard-earned by Anna Delvey. The collector and founder of Beijing’s M Woods museum met Devley while in New York. The two became friends and went on holiday together, where Huang was left to foot the bill.
Even though he was defrauded by Devley, that didn’t stop the art collector from purchasing a painting of Delvey and hanging it in his museum.
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