Netflix’s latest drama, “Inventing Anna,” has left viewers on the edge of their seats. It’s based on a true story, produced by Shonda Rhimes, and has Julia Garner as the lead actress. The film surrounds the real-life crimes of fake German heiress Anna Delvey, whose real name is Anna Delvey Sorokin.
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As it stands, it’s reported that Netflix ACTUALLY paid Sorokin a total of $320,00 for the rights to adapt her story into the drama.
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Currently, the limited series is the #1 in the United States as it tells all of Anna.
Nicole Rivelli / Netflix
Nicole Rivelli / Netflix
According to Insider, she has since used the money [recently unfrozen by New York’s Office of Victim Services] to pay $223K in restitution and fines, including $100K to City National Bank and $24K to settle state fines. Additionally, reports state she has also paid $75K in attorney’s fees and will be required to pay more once legal proceedings have come to an end.It’s no guarantee that Sorokin will be left with much by the end of it all, but then she was released from prison in February 2021 after serving jail time following her conviction in April 2019.
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However, Jessica Pressler’s article from the CUT in 2018 had earlier detailed how Anna rose to fame and used her false identity as a German Heiress to steal money and scam numerous financial institutions. When the article was published in 2018, even Julia Garner had believed the story was just too good and that a project should be done out of it.
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“I kind of had a feeling when I read the article that they would make a project out of it. The story was just too good.”
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Netflix
The Insider had in 2019 also reported that former Vanity Fair Writer Rachel Williams was paid $300,000 by Simon & Schuster for her book My Friend Anna. At the time, Rachel was also paid $35K by HBO to option her book into a project by Lena Dunham.
According to her website, the option has expired, and the project is not currently in development.
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After Inventing Anna dropped on Netflix, Rachel has slammed the streamer for paying Anna Sorokin.
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She told Vanity Fair: “I think promoting this whole narrative and celebrating a sociopathic, narcissistic, proven criminal is wrong.”
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Nicole Rivelli / Netflix
She has also insisted that Shonda Rhimes and Netflix have been tricked into believing Anna was unique and motivating.
