‘Fake Heiress’ Anna Sorokin Will Compete on ‘Dancing With the Stars’ amid Deportation Battle

Anna Delvey, also known as Anna Sorokin, poses at her apartment in New York, May 26, 2023, to promote her podcast, "The Anna Delvey Show." (AP Photo/John Carucci, File)
Anna Delvey, also known as Anna Sorokin, poses at her apartment in New York, May 26, 2023, to promote her podcast, "The Anna Delvey Show." (AP Photo/John Carucci, File)
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‘Fake Heiress’ Anna Sorokin Will Compete on ‘Dancing With the Stars’ amid Deportation Battle

Anna Delvey, also known as Anna Sorokin, poses at her apartment in New York, May 26, 2023, to promote her podcast, "The Anna Delvey Show." (AP Photo/John Carucci, File)
Anna Delvey, also known as Anna Sorokin, poses at her apartment in New York, May 26, 2023, to promote her podcast, "The Anna Delvey Show." (AP Photo/John Carucci, File)

Anna Sorokin, the con artist who was convicted of swindling banks, hotels and friends in 2019 after falsely building a reputation as a wealthy German heiress named Anna Delvey, has found her newest venture: “Dancing With the Stars.”

Described as the “notorious ankle bracelet fashionista” in a press release, Sorokin was announced Wednesday on “Good Morning America” along with the likes of former NBA star Dwight Howard, actor Tori Spelling and Jenn Tran, “The Bachelorette” lead whose season ended in heartbreak just Tuesday night. Tran, the first Asian American “Bachelorette,” was a contestant on Joey Graziadei's season of “The Bachelor” — and he, too, will be vying for the trophy.

Complicating Sorokin's latest starring role is the ankle bracelet she’s worn since October 2022, when she started her house arrest — though the show appears to be leaning into it with a promo image of Sorokin in a glittering dress and an ankle monitor on her leg. While she was released from prison in February 2021, immigration authorities picked her up shortly after she got out, claiming she overstayed her visa and must be returned to her native Germany.

The “Inventing Anna” inspiration was in ICE custody for over a year before a judge cleared the way for her to switch to home confinement in October 2022 while she fights the deportation case.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement has not returned requests for comment regarding changes to Sorokin’s house arrest conditions to accommodate filming in the Los Angeles area. Sorokin’s spokesperson, Juda Engelmayer, confirmed Tuesday that she could travel within 70 miles (112 kilometers) of her home base and anywhere in the five boroughs of New York City under previous house arrest conditions, but could not comment on any changes to those rules.

While under house arrest, she had to abide by the immigration judge’s condition that she does not use social media, but Sorokin kept busy. She started a podcast - “The Anna Delvey Show” - that featured guests like comedian Whitney Cummings and technology journalist Taylor Lorenz who traveled to her apartment in New York’s East Village to record.

“So many people became famous for bad things and were able to kind of segue it into something different,” she said in a June 2023 interview with The Associated Press.

“Dancing With the Stars” is the first mainstream way Sorokin is attempting to accomplish that goal. She’ll be competing in the upcoming 33rd season, which premieres Sept. 17 on ABC and Disney+.

Sorokin will be joining Team USA’s breakout star from the Olympics: Stephen Nedoroscik — better known to the internet as “Pommel Horse Guy.” The 25-year-old who won two bronze medals in Paris was the first contestant announced, in August fresh off his Olympics' high. He became an internet sensation thanks to memes of his preparation before competing and of his Superman-like transformation before hitting the floor.

Another US Olympian will be competing: Ilona Maher, the rugby player and bronze medalist who became a social media darling for her funny TikToks and body positivity content.

The series hosted by Alfonso Riberio and Julianne Hough also announced that Ezra Sosa, a previous member of the show’s troupe of dancers, will be among those promoted to a “pro” this season; he is partnered with Sorokin. Artem Chigvintsev, who was arrested last week on a domestic violence charge, will not be return as a pro.



Doctor to Plead Guilty to Supplying Ketamine to ‘Friends’ Star Matthew Perry 

Matthew Perry appears at the GQ Men of the Year Party in West Hollywood, Calif., on Nov. 17, 2022. (AP) 
Matthew Perry appears at the GQ Men of the Year Party in West Hollywood, Calif., on Nov. 17, 2022. (AP) 
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Doctor to Plead Guilty to Supplying Ketamine to ‘Friends’ Star Matthew Perry 

Matthew Perry appears at the GQ Men of the Year Party in West Hollywood, Calif., on Nov. 17, 2022. (AP) 
Matthew Perry appears at the GQ Men of the Year Party in West Hollywood, Calif., on Nov. 17, 2022. (AP) 

A California doctor charged in the overdose death of "Friends" star Matthew Perry has agreed to plead guilty to four counts of illegal distribution of the drug ketamine, according to a court filing on Monday.

Salvador Plasencia, who operated an urgent care clinic in Malibu, faces up to 40 years in prison, according to a statement from prosecutors. He is expected to enter the guilty plea in the coming weeks.

Plasencia was one of five people charged in the death of Perry at age 54. An autopsy found the actor died from acute effects of ketamine and other factors that caused him to lose consciousness and drown in his hot tub in October 2023.

Ketamine is a short-acting anesthetic with hallucinogenic properties. It is sometimes prescribed to treat depression and anxiety but also abused by recreational users.

In the plea agreement, Plasencia admitted to injecting Perry with ketamine at the actor's home and in a Santa Monica parking lot in the weeks before his death, in exchange for thousands of dollars, and that it was "not for legitimate medical purposes."

Plasencia obtained the ketamine from another doctor, Mark Chavez of San Diego. According to earlier court filings, Plasencia texted Chavez about Perry, saying: "I wonder how much this moron will pay."

Chavez and two other defendants already have pleaded guilty in the case. None has yet been sentenced.

A fifth defendant, Jasveen Sangha, whom authorities said was a drug dealer known to customers as the "ketamine queen," has been charged with supplying the dose that killed Perry. She has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to go on trial in August.

Perry had publicly acknowledged decades of substance abuse, including during the years he starred as Chandler Bing on the hit 1990s television sitcom "Friends."