عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Entertainment

‘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)
TT
TT

‘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.

Most Viewed

 
 
Entertainment

Venice Film Festival Welcomes Pitt and Clooney, and Their New Film ‘Wolfs’ 

US actors George Clooney (R) and Brad Pitt (L) attend a premiere of "Wolfs" at the 81st annual Venice International Film Festival, in Venice, Italy, 01 September 2024. (EPA)
US actors George Clooney (R) and Brad Pitt (L) attend a premiere of "Wolfs" at the 81st annual Venice International Film Festival, in Venice, Italy, 01 September 2024. (EPA)
TT
TT

Venice Film Festival Welcomes Pitt and Clooney, and Their New Film ‘Wolfs’ 

US actors George Clooney (R) and Brad Pitt (L) attend a premiere of "Wolfs" at the 81st annual Venice International Film Festival, in Venice, Italy, 01 September 2024. (EPA)
US actors George Clooney (R) and Brad Pitt (L) attend a premiere of "Wolfs" at the 81st annual Venice International Film Festival, in Venice, Italy, 01 September 2024. (EPA)

George Clooney and Brad Pitt returned to the Venice Film Festival on Sunday for the world premiere of “Wolfs.”

Before hitting the red carpet, the Hollywood stars reflected on reuniting, the rise of streaming and Clooney’s New York Times op-ed urging President Joe Biden to end his reelection bid.

Asked about the impact of his piece, Clooney said he’d not yet had to answer that question.

“The person who should be applauded is the president who did the most selfless thing anyone’s done since George Washington,” Clooney said. “All the machinations that got us there, none of that’s going to be remembered. And it shouldn’t be. What should be remembered is the selfless act.”

Clooney continued: “It’s very hard to let go of power. We know that. We’ve seen that all around the world. For someone to say, I think there’s a better way forward? All credit goes to him.”

Most of the discussion was focused on the film, however, an old school action thriller directed by Jon Watts, in which they play lone wolf fixers unhappy to have been hired for the same job to cover up a bloody mess involving a district attorney (played by Amy Ryan).

The film will have a limited theatrical release, starting Sept. 20, before hitting Apple TV+ on Sept. 27. Apple TV+ acquired “Wolfs” in a competitive bidding war, beating out both traditional studios and rival streaming services.

Deadline reported in 2021 that the understanding was that it would come with a robust theatrical release, something the stars may have also forfeited money to ensure, the trade publication said. Then, several weeks ago the streamer announced different plans: Theatrical would be limited. Streaming would be quick.

Clooney confirmed that they did forfeit some of their salaries to guarantee a theatrical release and that it’s a “bummer” that it won’t be wider than a few hundred theaters.

“We would have liked it, we wanted it. That’s why Brad and I gave some of our money back,” he said, adding that a report in the New York Times overestimated the dollar amount of their salaries by millions.

Far from being anti-streaming, however, Clooney said that everyone is simply finding their way during this revolution. There are bumps and mistakes, but there’s also much more opportunities for actors, he said.

“Streaming, we need it, our industry needs it,” Clooney said. “They also benefit from having films released ... and we’re figuring it out, we haven’t gotten it figured out yet.”

Producer and Plan B executive Jeremy Kliner, who has worked with Pitt for over 20 years, said that they make films believing in their shelf lives, and that they’re doing something worthwhile.

Pitt added: “I think we’ll always be romantic about the theatrical experience but at the same time I love the existence of streamers ... it’s a delicate balance. It’ll right itself.”

Though both regulars at the picturesque festival on their own, with Clooney’s premieres including “Gravity” and “Good Night and Good Luck,” and “Ad Astra” and “The Assassination of Jesse James...” among Pitt’s, only once have they walked the carpet together. No, it wasn’t for an Ocean’s film. It was in 2008, for the premiere of “Burn After Reading,” the madcap Coen brothers’ farce in which they share one memorable scene.

“In ‘Burn After Reading’ I got the extreme pleasure of shooting him in the face and I thought maybe we’d try it again 15 years later,” Clooney said with a laugh.

The two teased one another about each other’s age and relevance, with Clooney joking that Pitt is 74 and lucky to be working at his age. (Clooney, for the record, is 63. Pitt is 60.)

Pitt was waiting for a good idea to reunite with Clooney on screen and thought the idea of two cleaners who think they’re the best sounded fun. Their years of working together made their banter, and overlapping dialogue, natural to do.

“As I get older, just working with the people that I just really enjoy spending time with has become really important to me,” Pitt said.

When they got the script, they said Watts hadn’t specified who was playing which part so Pitt and Clooney got on the phone and figured it out for themselves.

Pitt arrived at the festival just days apart from his ex, Angelina Jolie, who received praise for her turn as opera singer Maria Callas in Pablo Larraín’s “Maria” and left Italy for another festival soon after.

Pitt and Jolie had been romantic partners for a decade when they married in 2014. Jolie filed for divorce in 2016, and a judge declared them single in 2019, but the divorce case has not been finalized with custody and financial issues still in dispute. Several weeks ago, a Los Angeles court granted a petition from the third-eldest child of the former couple to legally change her name from Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt to Shiloh Nouvel Jolie.

The film’s director, who catapulted from indies to the Tom Holland Spider-Man films, said in a director’s statement that this film is him trying to get back to street level after “seven years of swinging from skyscrapers and jumping through multiverse portals.” He was unable to speak about the film with his stars after testing positive for COVID-19.

“He flew all the way here and then he got COVID,” Clooney said. “So now we’re all going to get it.”