From an ICE detention facility in Orange County, New York, Anna Sorokin’s popularity has skyrocketed.
Sorokin — who pretended to be a German heiress with a $60 million fortune named Anna Delvey — conned friends and businesses in New York into giving her money that funded a lavish lifestyle under the guise of creating an art foundation, the Deseret News reported. She was convicted on charges that included grand larceny and theft of services, and spent close to four years in prison.
But thanks to the hit Netflix series “Inventing Anna,” which explores her rise and fall, Sorokin’s years-old story has now reached a heightened level of popularity.
“People are way more interested in hearing my voice now than they were back in 2017,” Sorokin previously told The New York Times.
And Sorokin appears to be capitalizing on that.
After being released from prison in 2021, she’s now in ICE custody for overstaying her visa. The moment she leaves the facility, ICE will deport her to Germany, said HeraldPR — which represents Sorokin’s publicity and reputation — in an email to the Deseret News. Due to her felony charge, she would be banned from re-entering the United States for at least 10 years.
But as she self-sequesters in the ICE facility, appealing her criminal charge and deportation, Sorokin has remained in the public eye — most recently, through a one-night art exhibit held in New York Thursday night.
What happened at Anna Delvey’s art show?
During her ICE custody, Sorokin has created artwork from the pens and pencils she’s had access to in the Orange County facility, Variety reported. Twenty of those pieces were on display in a one-night exhibit titled “Allegedly” that premiered at the Public Hotel in New York City.
Before the pieces were unveiled, a pre-recorded message from Sorokin greeted those in attendance.
“Hi everyone, Anna Delvey, here,” the message said, per E! Online. “This is a collection of sketches I’ve created while in Orange County Detention. I wanted to capture some of the moments of the past years, both never-seen-before and iconic, using the limited tools I have at my disposal. Some of the pieces are straightforward, others are more abstract and will be unique in meaning and appearance to the observe. I studied fashion illustration in Paris and haven’t really sketched until my trial.
“You’ve heard so many voices already, but this is the beginning of me telling my story, my narrative from my perspective. I hope you guys enjoy the show.”
Sorokin’s solo art show follows the recent success of the “Free Anna Delvey” exhibit that included the works of 33 artists inspired by Sorokin’s story and re-creations of Sorokin’s drawings in prison — priced at $10,000 a piece, the Deseret News previously reported.
Sorokin’s 20-piece collection is valued between $400,000 and $500,000, according to Variety.
Following the debut of her artwork, Sorokin appeared to her guests via a livestream, waving from the detention facility.
“It’s so awesome having everybody!” she said, according to Variety.
Anna Delvey denies being a con artist
Even after serving her sentence, Sorokin has said she doesn’t consider herself to be a con artist, the Deseret News reported.
- “I never was doing anything so super-crazy,” she said, according to The Cut. “There’s people spending way more money than I did. People assumed I was trying to impress anybody, but 40, 50, 60 million … that’s borderline poor in New York. There’s so many rich people there, you can’t even impress anybody.”
- She added that “it’s easier to ask somebody for I don’t know, $20 million,” when people believe you have the money, Daily Mail reported.
- “I do see what I did wrong,” she concluded, according to The Cut. “But so many people are doing worse things.”