UPDATED with Attorney Statement: A lawyer for Anna Delvey says the Dancing with the stars Candidate is “grateful” that The view “corrected her false and defamatory statements” and accepted the “apology”.
Whether the daytime talk show actually apologized remains a matter of interpretation.
“We are grateful that The view has corrected her false and defamatory statements about Ms. Delvey,” attorney Duncan Levin said in a statement to Deadline following today’s View episode. “Like so many others, Anna has made mistakes and, most importantly, she has made amends by both serving her prison sentence and fully repaying all of her debts. Anna deserves a second chance and accepts The view‘s apology.”
In today’s episode View Co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin updated a Sept. 5 discussion in which she and some of her co-hosts criticized Delvey’s casting in the dance competition and suggested that Delvey – formerly Anna Sorokin and subject of the Netflix docuseries The invention of Anna — still owed compensation to some of its victims.
In a brief segment toward the end of tonight’s episode, Griffin, appearing alone, read a statement directly into the camera.
“We recently talked about Anna Delvey, the convicted fraudster, and found that she Dancing with the stars and questions the fairness of her participation in the show, as it is an opportunity that most other convicted criminals and asylum-seeking immigrants simply do not have.
“After that discussion, we heard from Miss Delvey’s attorney, who strongly disagreed with our statement that she, quote, still owes people money. He argued that that statement falsely suggests that she still owes restitution to her fraud victims. And he presented a document from the Office of Victim Services that he says proves, quote, that all of Miss Delvey’s restitution has been fully repaid and all victims have been fully compensated, end quote.
“We are all looking forward to the new season of Dancing with the stars Premiering tomorrow night here on ABC.”
In the episode of September 5th of The viewOn the show “The 40 Fingers,” hosts Whoopi Goldberg, Sunny Hostin and Griffin criticized the convicted con artist’s participation in the upcoming season of the ABC dance competition, saying, among other things, that Delvey still owes money to some of the people and institutions she defrauded.
During this episode The view aired a short clip in which Delvey and her professional dance partner Ezra Sosa joke about jeweling the ankle bracelet that Delvey is forced to wear, even though she has said she has permission from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to perform : The DWTS. Goldberg then said, “I think back to all the families whose family members were arrested by ICE, who went to court to get their father or their brother or their mother back, and this woman got permission to do that? … Is there a two-tier system at ICE?”
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Delvey was convicted of theft and other crimes in a New York state court in 2019 after posing as a German heiress and swindling thousands of dollars from various people and entities. After spending two years in prison, she was released on parole, only to be taken into custody by ICE for overstaying her visa. She appealed, and last year was ordered to wear an ankle monitor while on house arrest in her Manhattan apartment.
Hostin said during that discussion, “When you think about it, she defrauded so many people and then spent about two years in prison and then had to spend another 18 months in prison for overstaying her residency permit and overstaying her visa. So she committed another crime and what is the consequence of that? A jeweled ankle bracelet and an appearance on a television show.”
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Hostin compared Delvey’s DWTS From casting to Gypsy-Rose Blanchard, who became a reality TV star after being released from prison for the second-degree murder of her mother Dee Dee Blanchard.
Griffin took issue with the comparison.
“I’m here to redeem myself, not to redeem myself,” Griffin said, adding that Blanchard, like Martha Stewart before her, took responsibility before re-entering the public eye. “Gypsy-Rose has served her time,” she said, adding that Delvey “still owes people money.”
“Scammers usually remain scammers,” Griffin said, advising DWTS Fellow actors: “Be careful.”
Shortly after the September 5 episode aired, Delvey posted a message on X demanding a correction. “While you are entitled to your own opinions,” Delvey wrote, “you should at least get your facts straight. I have served my time and paid everyone back over 3 years ago. I look forward to your correction on the air.”
In a statement to the New York Post Delvey added the message at the time with the words: “Stay evil, ladies…”
