Anna Delvey is trending again. This week, the 2018 The Cut feature “How Anna Delvey Tricked New York’s Party People” is the publication’s most-viewed article on the site. Only the ads on the sides of the page have changed—now, as you scroll the true story of the wannabe-socialite who charmed New York’s wealthiest echelon out of hundreds of thousands of dollars, you’ll see ads for Netflix’s new series Inventing Anna.
Inventing Anna is loosely based on Jessica Pressler’s The Cut article, but the Shondaland treatment of Anna feels even more tenuous than the media attempts of the past. Now, in the margins of the feature, the fictional Anna’s (played by Julia Garner) face appears next to her real Instagram posts, adding a new layer of confusion to the question. Who is Anna Delvey, really?
Intro to a scammer
First, the basics: In her heyday, between 2013 and 2017, Anna lived the kind of life most people only view through social media and reality television. Private jets. International trips. Extended five-star hotel stays. She painted herself as a German heiress, a patron of the arts, and the namesake of the burgeoning Anna Delvey Foundation. Her arts organization would be part private club, part public gallery. She even had her eye on a specific property in Manhattan; she just needed the right investors and bank loans. But with her stacks of cash, elite connections, and family wealth, getting the funds shouldn’t be too tough.
Of…
