Anna Delvey (or Sorokin) is the name that never seems to stop making headlines of late. The convicted fraudster has spent around five years behind bars, but despite her disconnection with the outside world, our collective fascination with her only continues to grow.
While the fake heiress is fairly active on social media, she’s selective with the interviews she chooses to give (likely because she’s unable to control the narrative in these situations, which is something she loves to do). That being said, she has been known to talk to the right people, recently appearing on her friend, Julia Fox’s podcast, Forbidden Fruits.
The latest Anna-approved interviewer to score talking time with the detainee, is Alex Cooper, of the Call Her Daddy podcast. Known for giving raunchy sex advice, the podcast has also interviewed some big names, including Julia Fox, Chloe Cherry and now, Anna Delvey. Throughout the episode, Anna appears to swing between admitting criminal responsibility and denying any wrongdoing altogether. The amount of times she says ‘I don’t know’ is astounding for someone who prides themselves on being highly intelligent. And, by the end of the episode, you’ll be stuck wondering if you now know more or less about the mysterious woman behind the glasses.
Below, the biggest bombshells to come from Anna’s interview with Alex on the Call Her Daddy podcast.
Her experience in jail
The first question Alex asks Anna, is what her experience in jail has been like so far, including her daily routine. Anna responds by revealing that she can really do whatever she wants, but given how much mail she’s getting of late, she spends a lot of time reading through these letters. “I get all kinds of mail now, it’s just so crazy,” Delvey said, from people who want to adopt her and marriage proposals.
Delvey then confessed to working the system inside the prison much like she worked them on the outside, explaining that she has a ‘jail assistant’ and will often buy inmate’s phone minutes off them to buy herself more contact time with the outside world. She also revealed that she would pay people off to do basic chores, including her laundry. She didn’t explain where the money was actually coming from, but said that people aren’t concerned with where it’s coming from. Some things never change, right?
As for her first night in prison, Anna describes it as “terrifying” and “interesting,” but doesn’t elaborate much further.
Her childhood
“I always wanted to be in fashion, definitely. I grew up watching MTV and I thought fashion PR was the coolest thing,” she said, when asked what she wanted to be when she grew up.
“I hated to be told what to do, I was like allergic to authority and rules, especially when I thought they were unreasonable. I hated to explain myself. I never wanted to be controlled with money.”
One of the most troubling comments Anna made during this discussion, was that she feels no sense of connection to her birth country and given name.
Later in the podcast, Anna explained that she talks to her parents a few times a week, and they will often send her things like money, books and magazines. She seemed unbothered when Alex reveals that Anna’s father had called her ‘selfish’ in a magazine interview, but says she hopes he was being sarcastic.
The ‘German heiress’ ruse
One of the most contentious aspect of Anna Delvey’s crimes, is how she managed to fool New York’s elite, banks and investors into believing that she was a German heiress who was about to inherit a lot of money. Despite many claiming that Anna was actively peddling this lie, Delvey herself denies ever telling people that this was the case.
“I was from Germany, which was true, but nobody ever asked me about my job,” she said. “Nobody asks who are your parents and how much money do they make, it’s just outrageous.”
“I always wanted to get more stuff or eat at that restaurant, so I guess yeah, it’s fair to say that I was”, she replied, when asked if she felt pressured to keep up with the socialite scene in New York.
Pressing her further on the ‘German heiress’ ruse, Alex asked if Anna had ever told anyone that she was going to be inheriting money.
“No,” Anna responded.
“Did you ever tell people that you were a German heiress?” Alex pressed.
“No,” Anna responded again. “Nobody introduces themselves like that, what kind of sentence is that, it’s completely ridiculous.”
“I cannot testify to what people are assuming about me, I don’t know,” Anna continued. “There were people spending way more money than I did.” She then revealed that she didn’t think that living in a hotel was a particularly wealthy move, as she knows “so many” people who lived in hotels.
When asked if anyone had ever asked her where she got her money from, Anna replied, “no, absolutely not.” Later, Anna would maintain that she never told any “senseless lies,” but may have lied here and there if she felt that a lie would benefit her in that instance.
Her ability to scam people
The idea that one woman would be able to swindle so many high-powered institutions of of millions seems a little far-fetched, so many have been trying to understand what exactly it is about Anna that made the scam possible.
“I’m not like a performer, there’s nothing else behind this,” Delvey replied, when asked what she would actually do to close a deal.
“I would always show up underdressed with this ‘I don’t give a fuck vibe,’ which was pretty much accurate because if it wasn’t them it would be somebody else. In the end, they are all disposable there are just so many financial institutions in New York,” she continued, before adding that these banks needed to impress her, not the other way round.
Naturally, the topic of her accent came up, with Alex telling Anna that her voice had become a viral sound on TikTok. Anna claims to have no idea that people are so fascinated with her accent, and is adamant that none of it is made up, it is simply how she talks. Alex explained that perhaps Julia Garner’s portrayal of Delvey in the show, Inventing Anna has over- dramatized her accent, leading to confusion over how she actually sounds.
“When I heard Julia talking like me I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, do I sound this insufferable?'” Anna said, laughing.
Her insecurities
With her seemingly flawless façade and ever-expanding ego, it’s hard to remember that there’s a human being underneath it all. Despite general reservations, Alex asked if Anna ever feels insecure about anything, to which Anna admitted that she actually does.
“I feel like I’m more paranoid than I ever was. I feel like I’m at the mercy of public opinion and I’m trying to stay away from seeing myself the way other people see me and it’s just really hard. I’m so scared to fuck up again and for everybody to say ‘she was a fraud all along.'”
Alex followed up the emotionally-driven question with another one, asking if Delvey ever feels lonely at times, particularly given the length of time she has now spent in prison.
“Definitely, in a way I am. I try to keep myself busy but it’s not the same as being around friends or the people I choose to be around.”
Her feud with Rachel
Anna describes her confrontation with ex-best friend Rachel in court as “very exciting.”
“I was always saying that it was a really unfortunate situation,” Anna said, when reflecting on the infamous trip to Marrakesh when Rachel was forced to pick up the $62,000 tab.
“I never said ‘I’m so awesome and I did nothing wrong.’ I did let her pay and I knew there was a chance that I could not repay her. For me, at that point, I was going to go through with my project and everything was going to work out, so for me to tell Rachel ‘there is a chance I’m not going to pay you back,’ it was the same as me admitting that my project wasn’t going to work out. It was like admitting failure on a bigger scale, it was very psychological for me.”
“I hope she makes the best out of the moment,” Anna said, when asked what she would say to Rachel now, if given the chance. She also revealed that she has not read Rachel’s book and has no intention of ever reading it, before adding that she has heard it’s “pretty bad.”
As for how she’d like to be remembered, Anna was adamant that she doesn’t want to be associated with her crimes.
“Definitely not for my crimes,” she said. Hopefully I’ll be able to create something good out of all the attention I’m getting.”
The fake heiress still has a hard time understanding why people are so fascinated to her, because in her eyes, she’s just being herself.
“It was really a surprise to me that people would be so interested because it just makes sense to me, it comes natural [sic]. what’s out there is like a caricature, I’m trying not to see myself as this person who is being portrayed out there. I feel like I’m more complex,” Anna explained.
And, just when it seemed like she might finally have some clarity on what she did wrong, or maybe even show some remorse for her crimes, Anna came out with one final line.
“I do see what I did wrong, but so many people do worse things.”
