The new season of Dancing with the Stars (DWTS) returned to ABC on Sept. 17 for its thirty-third season. DWTS is a reality competition TV show where professional dancers team up with celebrities to train and compete in ballroom dancing. This year’s biggest celebrity contestant, famous con artist Anna Delvey, has raised concern from DWTS fans.
Over the years, DWTS has managed to rack up a long list of A-lister celebrity competitors, including Zendaya, Kim Kardashian, Nelly, Billy Ray Cyrus, Simone Biles and many more. However, Dancing with the Stars has also been known for inviting controversial contestants to join their show, including disgraced former figure skater Tonya Harding, the Tiger King antagonist Carole Baskin and Olivia Jade Giannulli, known for being the daughter of fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli and actress Lori Loughlin, both of whom were involved in scamming the University of Southern California’s college admissions into accepting her under false pretenses.
Anna Sorokin, also known as Anna Delvey, is a Russian-born German fraudster who posed as a wealthy heiress to access and scam upper-class New Yorkers between 2013 and 2017. She achieved her scams by faking financial documents to show her having a multi-million euro trust fund and creating fraudulent checks to trick wealthy acquaintances into giving her more than $275,000 in cash and large loans without collateral.
Delvey was convicted of grand larceny in 2019 after being turned in by one of her acquaintances, Rachel Williams, for stealing more than $67,000 from her. Delvey was sentenced to prison but was granted bail in Oct. 2022 for a $10,000 bond and was subsequently released.
Delvey gained fame after Williams wrote an article for the Vanity Fair and a best-seller book, My Friend Anna. Netflix bought the rights to Delvey’s story for $320,000 to create the TV series Inventing Anna.
Since being released, Delvey has been under house arrest in her Manhattan apartment. As part of her parole requirements, Delvey is to wear an ICE-mandated ankle monitor. The monitor has become a big part of her image.
The internet has widely discussed Delvey’s debut in Dancing with the Stars since her casting. One-half of the internet has argued that DWTS has made a poor decision in Delvey’s casting. Viewers have expressed anger at DWTS for “glorifying a felon” and shown sentiment for Delvey’s dance partner, Ezra Sosa.
“Poor Ezra. I feel so bad. It’s his first pro season. I really hope he comes back as a pro next season,” TikTok user Anna_coble wrote.
Delvey also gained more criticism after her interviews on the DWTS stage, where she replied, “nothing” to co-host Julianne Hough after being asked what she would take away from the show. Delvey was also asked how she felt after the dance, to which she replied, “I feel happy that I don’t have to do this dance again.”
One internet user, Dil_maz, argues that the immigration system has given Delvey too much power by allowing her to decorate her ankle monitor and attend DWTS while “most people caught up in America’s broken immigration system aren’t allowed to go on house arrest.”
However, not everyone has boarded the Delvey hate train. Some online call the pairing “iconic” and expressed disappointment with Delvey and Sosa’s disqualification on Sept. 24.
Sosa has defended Delvey’s claim that she learned nothing by arguing that he knew she would say something “very iconic and something very Anna Delvey” and further backed Delvey up by stating that “we would expect nothing less of her.” Sosa also revealed that when he and Delvey went backstage, she apologized for cutting his first season short.
“Excited to log into my five different accounts to cash in each and every one of my votes for [you] girl,” TikTok user lovmcbv wrote.
Delvey has created a divide between those who oppose her past actions and those who defend her, both of whom have good arguments.
It does appear that Delvey’s answers in the interviews seem to be a part of her dry humor and not hate for DWTS and her partner Sosa. Overall, it was exciting to see Delvey and Sosa dance, and I wish both had gotten to partake in more episodes. Delvey was voted out on Sept. 24. after two episodes.
