Setting the record straight. Rachel DeLoache Williams is suing Netflix for false light invasion of privacy and defamation for how she was depicted in the series Inventing Anna.
The 34-year-old writer, a former friend of con artist and convicted grand larcenist Anna Sorokin, also known as Anna Delvey, is played by Katie Lowes in the limited series. Julia Garner portrays Sorokin, 31.
The complaint, which was filed on Monday, August 29, alleges that “Netflix made a deliberate decision for dramatic purposes to show Williams doing or saying things in the series which portray her as a greedy, snobbish, disloyal, dishonest, cowardly, manipulative and opportunistic person.”
The lawsuit also claims that Williams suffered online abuse because of the series. “As a result of Netflix’s false portrayal of her as a vile and contemptible person, Williams was subjected to a torrent of online abuse, negative in-person interactions, and pejorative characterizations in podcasts, etc. that were based on the Series, which establish that Netflix’s actions exposed her to public contempt, ridicule, aversion or disgrace, or induced an evil opinion of her,” the papers read.
Prior to Inventing Anna’s release in February, Williams shared her side of the story in a 2019 book titled My Friend Anna: the True Story of a Fake Heiress. In the tell-all, she details her relationship with Sorokin, who posed as a wealthy German heiress during their friendship. In May 2017, the two women took a trip to Morocco together. Although Williams was under the impression that her companion would pay for the getaway, she ended up paying the $62,000 bill when Sorokin claimed her credit card had stopped working.
In May, the Tennessee native alleged that Inventing Anna depicted the Morocco incident incorrectly during an appearance on Red Table Talk.
“The Netflix show has it sort of, like, a scary, dramatic confrontation with, like, the threat of violence and then Anna, like, very worked up,” she said. “What was actually more alarming was that in real life, Anna was cool as a cucumber. She didn’t seem to register the seriousness, the risk. Normal people have alarm bells going off when you’re being told you can’t leave somewhere, especially in a foreign country.”
Williams later reported her former friend to law enforcement, helped the police locate her in Los Angeles and testified against her in court. Sorokin was convicted of grand larceny, larceny in the second degree and theft of services in 2019 and sentenced to 4 to 12 years in prison. Although released on parole in February 2021, the Russia native is currently facing deportation for overstaying her visa.
Keep scrolling for everything to know about Williams and her history with Sorokin: