“Inventing Anna”: Sharp criticism from Sorokin victim Rachel Williams

Netflix series “Inventing Anna”
Free PR for a criminal: why not everyone is fascinated by Anna “Delvey” Sorokin

Two Netflix productions are causing a stir these days: “The Tinder Swindler” and “Inventing Anna”. Both tell the stories of two scammers, Shimon Yehuda Hayut and Anna “Delvey” Sorokin. The former met women on Tinder, fed them a fake life story, started relationships, and then borrowed money that he never repaid. Sorokin fooled New York’s high society for years, cheated friends and banks. And yet it seems like both Hayut and Sorokin are the winners.

“Inventing Anna”: Sharp criticism of a betrayed

One who sharply criticizes this is Rachel DeLoache Williams. The former Vanity Fair photo editor was friends with Sorokin when she was staying at a luxury New York hotel. When Sorokin’s credit cards stopped working on the expensive Morocco vacation, Williams offered the hotel to register her own card as collateral until Sorokin could work out the issue with her bank. What she didn’t know then: Sorokin didn’t have any money at all. The entire vacation, $62,000, was debited from Williams’ and her employer’s cards. Months of panic followed before the editor helped the police arrest Sorokin.

The American wrote a book about her experiences with the scammer, “My Friend Anna”. However, she had no say in the Netflix series. Shortly before publication, Williams wrote an article for the US magazine “Time” in which she criticized the streaming service for the presentation. “Millions will watch as Anna is portrayed as a complex anti-heroine battling her personal demons and a world that constantly underestimates young women. The film will be seen by more people than Anna will ever know or bother to watch to understand her true nature or what really happened. And that’s a dangerous reality,” Williams writes.

She also criticizes the fact that her former girlfriend’s crime is staged as a glamorous act. Anna, who fights against capitalism and dupes banks, could become an inspiration for others. Crime as a career move: “If you’re after stardom, you’ve built a ‘brand’, created a platform and found an audience that you can use for future opportunities,” criticizes Williams.

In her eyes, Netflix is ​​doing free PR for a criminal who could expand her brand even further. For Williams, the fascination with Sorokin fits with the general hype surrounding true-crime stories. What unites most: A thought of the victims is rarely wasted. Especially not when the defrauded include banks.

Anna “Delvey” Sorokin has been given too much power

“People, like ideas, only have as much power and influence as we give them. Without realizing it, I gave Anna tremendous power and influence over me—power and influence that I then had to reclaim for years,” she writes and combines her insight with a social criticism and a message to the readers: “I realized that your attention is an investment. If you give someone your attention, you let yourself be influenced as to whether you are aware of it at the moment or not. And especially in this age of constant stimulation, where countless people and stories are competing for your clicks, likes, followers and time, your attention has value,” Williams said.

Today she has become stronger through her experiences, but at the same time more cautious.

source: “Time” magazine

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