sideofthestory.Thisisn’tthefirstattempttorecountRussian-
bornDelvey’strajectoryfroma lower-middle-classupbringing
inRussiaandGermanytolivingina $400-a-nighthotelsuite.
InMay2018,NewYorkmagazine’sJessicaPresslerpublisheda
livelyinvestigationthatNetflixInc.optioned;ShondaRhimes
is leadingtheproject.ThestreamingservicealsopaidDelvey
forhersideofthestory,thoughrecentlyprosecutorshave
attemptedtoblockherfromprofitingfromthedealusingthe
so-calledSonofSamlaw.Meanwhile,Williams,a formerphoto
editoratVanityFair, is nowrepresentedbyCreativeArtists
AgencyLLCinLosAngelesandhassoldthestorytoHBO.
Amidsuchabundantcoverage,commentaryabouttheepi-
sodeusuallyfallsintotwocamps:Peopleareeitherhorrified
byDelvey’samoralapproachtobasicnormsorimpressedby
hermoxie—athertrial,herlawyerquotedthe“IfI canmake
it there,I’llmakeit anywhere”linefromNewYork,NewYork.
Williams’sstorysuggestsanothertake:Delvey,though
clearlylackingscruples,wasnotmerelypluckyorderanged.
Shewasrathercoollycalculatinginherchoiceofvictims.
Thebookbeginswiththeepisodeitself,anexcruciating
chronicleinwhichtheyoungeditorriskshercreditscore(at
least$36,000inchargesonherpersonalcard)andthenher
job($16,770onhercorporatecard)toavoidsomeawkward
momentswithhotelmanagementinMorocco.The restofthe
firsthalfofthebookis abouttheirfriendship.Thesecondhalf
is thefallout—Williams’sinabilitytopayrent,heremotional
meltdown, and, finally, a collaboration with police wherein
she lures Delvey into custody.
As a result, My Friend Anna has very little to do with
Delvey herself. Williams certainly isn’t a stylist (typical line:
“My brain skipped back and forth through time like a VCR
tape gone berserk”), and Delvey doesn’t emerge as anything
more than a specter. Was she funny? Charming? Catty? We
never find out.
Instead, Williams’s story emerges as a self-portrait of the
perfect mark. Like many of Delvey’s victims, Williams is
young and dazzled by people on the periphery of the New
York nightlife scene. “Tagging along” with a group of publi-
cists and editorial associates “made me feel like I was on the
inside of something special,” she writes. As a staffer at Vanity
Fair, she’s adjacent to wealth but not wealthy, and socially
adrift. Small wonder that Delvey settled on her.
And that’s a key to understanding this entire saga. Delvey
got breathtakingly far on a series of flimsy bluffs, but aside
from instances of actual theft, she never achieved much
with the milieus she was hoping to break into. Instead it was
Williams, along with a 25-year-old hotel concierge, the per-
sonal trainer, and the freelance videographer who got sucked
in to Delvey’s orbit. But it’s Williams who has the last laugh.
American Express Co. forgave the charges on both credit
cards, and her book and TV deals are said to be worth more
than $600,000. “It wasn’t an experience I’d wish on anybody,
but I did gain something valuable,” Williams writes in the
book’s epilogue. “Instead of losing trust in others, I found
the strength to trust in myself.” Only in New York, kids. <BW>62
InMay,a 28-year-oldnamedAnnaSorokin,whowentbythe
nameAnnaDelvey,wassentencedtofourto 12 years in prison
for grand larceny and theft of services. She’d persuaded City
National Bank to give her a $100,000 loan, skipped out on tens
of thousands of dollars’ worth of hotel bills, and chartered a
private jet for $35,000 to attend the Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
annual shareholder meeting. She didn’t pay that back either.
Delvey did all of this, she claimed, in an effort to open
a social club/art space, which she planned to call the Anna
Delvey Foundation.
Although she could have gotten a lighter sentence—Delvey
turned down a plea deal—it actually might have been worse.
Prosecutors additionally wanted to charge her for the time
shepersuadeda friendnamedRachelDeLoacheWilliamsto
payforbothoftheireconomy-classtickets(plusticketsfor
theirtraineranda freelancevideographer)toLaMamounia,
a five-star resort in Marrakech, Morocco. After all four moved
into one of the hotel’s $7,500-a-night villas, Delvey feigned
shock that her own credit cards didn’t work and persuaded
Williams to spot her the cost of the stay. The trip’s total came
to about $62,000, which also included meals, transportation,
shopping, and a guided tour of Yves Saint Laurent’s former
home. Delvey promised Williams she’d repay her and, of
course, didn’t. Prosecutors charged Delvey for the episode;
the jury found her not guilty.
Now, Williams has written a book, My Friend Anna: The
True Story of a Fake Heiress (Gallery Books; $27), that tells her PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY 731. JOE SCHILDHORN/BFACRITIC BloombergPursuits July 29, 2019Conartistandfakesocialite
AnnaDelveyhadchutzpah—
anda goodeyeforvictims
ByJames TarmyNailing
Her Marks