‘Dancing With The Stars’ Tangos With Controversy With The Casting of Anna Delvey

The new season of “Dancing with the Stars” created excitement and controversy from watchers surrounding Anna Delvey being a new contestant on the show.

First, we must understand how it got to this point. Anna Delvey, originally known as Anna Sorokin, grew up in Germany until eventually moving to Paris to pursue a degree in fashion.  She ended up working at “Purple Magazine” and having the opportunity to go to New York Fashion Week where she then decided to move to New York.

Things turned dark quickly as she began scamming her way into the high fashion scene. Anna changed her name to Anna Delvey and displayed herself as a wealthy German heiress. Between 2013 and 2017 Delvey scammed countless people, hotels, and banks. She also created the idea of the “Anna Delvey Foundation” a private club and art foundation to grab the attention of wealthy donors.

In 2017, Anna was arrested and found guilty of 8 charges including attempted grand larceny in the 1st degree, grand larceny in the 2nd and 3rd degree, and theft of services. According to People magazine “During her prosecution, it was estimated that she stole around $275,000”. She was sentenced to four to twelve years in prison.

Anna was released early from prison in 2021 but was immediately sent to an immigration detention facility for 18 months due to overstaying her visa. She was then put on house arrest and in 2024 she requested ICE to let her be on “Dancing With The Stars” and travel to Los Angeles. This was accepted with the requirement of her wearing an ankle monitor.

On Sept. 4, the cast of “Dancing With The Stars” for the 2024 season was revealed and it surprisingly included Anna Delvey who was showing off her ankle monitor. When starting the season, Delvey stated that she wasn’t nervous. “What’s the worst that can happen? They’re not going to arrest me for dancing badly”  Delvey told Entertainment Weekly.

The worst thing that happened during this season was the negative backlash Anna received from people who still see her as a criminal and nothing more. In the second episode of this season, Anna expressed that hateful social media comments were upsetting her.  “We found her in the bathroom. She was crying. I’d never seen her like that, and it broke my heart.” said Delvey’s dance partner Ezra Sosa.

During the same episode, actress and model Julia Fox made an appearance and defended Anna as her longtime friend. “It’s sad to see all the people being so nasty because if it were their sister or their mother, they’d be all for a second chance,” Fox said according to Entertainment Weekly.

Different opinions were expressed all over social media–either people who disagreed with her being on “Dancing With The Stars” or people believing she deserved a second chance. Although Anna was searching for a second chance, she was quickly eliminated from the show at the end of the second episode due to judge scores and votes from viewers.

The show continues with many talented dancers and stars from all different talents and specialties such as Stephen Nedoroscik, an American Olympic gymnast, and Jenn Tran, a recent star of The Bachelorette. Although Anna Delvey is no longer involved in the show, this moment will go down in history as one of the most controversial stars included on “Dancing With The Stars.”