Anna Delvey Is 'Thankful' for “The View”'s On-Air Correction After Demanding Apology for 'False and Defamatory Statements'
"[Delvey] has made amends by serving both time in prison and repaying all her debts in full," per a statement from Delvey's lawyer
Anna Delvey is "thankful" for The View's on-air correction after slamming the cohosts for making false claims about her.
On Monday, Sept. 16, Alyssa Farah Griffin provided a statement before the episode came to an end. The statement referred to a previous episode where Whoopi Goldberg made a comment about Delvey’s 2017 arrest, and Griffin added doubt that Delvey had changed, saying, “Con artists tend to remain con artists."
“We recently discussed Anna Delvey, the convicted fraudster, noting she will be on Dancing with the Stars and questioning the fairness of her being on the show as it is an opportunity that most other convicted criminals and immigrants seeking asylum simply do not have,” Griffin began. “After that discussion, we heard from Miss Delvey’s lawyer who strongly objected to our saying that, quote, she still owes people money.”
She continued: “He argued that statement falsely suggests she still owes restitution to her fraud victims. And he provided a document from the Office of Victim Services that he says proves, quote, all of Miss Delvey’s restitution has been repaid in full and all the victims have been fully compensated, end quote. We are all looking forward to the new season of Dancing with the Stars premiering tomorrow night right here on ABC.”
Delvey's lawyer Duncan Levin shared a statement with PEOPLE following the episode airing.
“We are thankful that The View has corrected their false and defamatory statements about Ms. Delvey,” the statement read. “Like so many others, Anna has made mistakes and, most importantly, she has made amends by serving both time in prison and repaying all her debts in full. Anna deserves a second chance and accepts The View’s apology.”
One day after the Sept. 5 episode where The View cohosts criticized Delvey’s casting on DWTS, the Russian-native slammed the show for spreading lies.
“I served my time and paid everyone back in full three-plus years ago. Looking forward to your on-air correction.”
“Stay nasty ladies, but don’t forget to vote Sept. 17!” she concluded, referring to the premiere date of DWTS.
Delvey, whose real name is Anna Sorokin, was arrested in 2017 after posing as a wealthy German heiress, using her social standing to defraud wealthy people, banks and hotels. In 2019, she was charged with grand larceny in the first, second and third degree as well as theft of services.
She soon paid the court order off using the $320,000 she received from Netflix for rights to adapt her life story into a TV series, which became Inventing Anna, released in 2022, Insider reported.
Delvey’s issues with ICE were also a major topic of conversation among the ladies on The View (Delvey was taken into custody for violating her visa terms shortly after her release and has since been on house arrest in New York City pending a deportation case).
"I think back to all the families who’ve had family members arrested by ICE, who have gone to the courts to get their dad or their mother or their brother back," Goldberg said. "And this woman, they gave her permission to go do this. Now, should I think there’s a reason. Is there a two-tiered system here with ICE?"
Following her co-hosts weighing in on the issue, Goldberg claimed, "She still owes people money. I don’t understand why she gets to stay!" Joy Behar then suggested it's because Delvey is "pretty."
"Well that’s a little bit of a piss-off, I have got to tell you," Goldberg responded, then talking about the broader issues with immigration. "You know, I like pretty people too, but I gotta say, I’m listening to people bitch about what’s going on at the border and I’m listening to people bitching about who shouldn’t be here — well what the hell, man? How does this work?"
"This is a [f--- you] in the face of a lot of people who have been trying to make their way back to this country and families torn apart," the EGOT winner continued.
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