Netflix paid Anna Delvey a lot of money for Inventing Anna, but that doesn’t mean she gets it

Crime doesn't pay, but a Netflix show about your crime might cover your legal fees

By Sam Barsanti  |  February 13, 2022 | 11:28pm
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Netflix paid Anna Delvey a lot of money for Inventing Anna, but that doesn’t mean she gets it
Inventing Anna Photo: Netflix

Netflix’s Inventing Anna, a Shonda Rhimes-backed dramatization of the story of infamous New York con artist Anna Sorokin/Anna Delvey finally came out recently, but along with the project’s debut comes the return of a strange wrinkle in the Inventing Anna saga. Several years ago, when Netflix was still developing the project and getting ready to pay Sorokin a substantial amount of money for the rights to her story, New York stepped in with the so-called “Son Of Sam Law,” which prevents convicted criminals from profiting off of their crimes by writing a book or becoming the subject of a Netflix show.

Fast-forward to now, and it’s not entirely clear how the Son Of Sam Law has negatively impacted her at all. Insider says Sorokin, who will be released from prison soon, got $320,000 from Netflix so it could make Inventing Anna, with $200,000 or so going to banks she scammed, another $24,000 going to “settle state fines,” and $75,000 paying attorney fees. But whatever’s left over, as declared by a judge, will go to Sorokin.

It’s a little more complicated than that, with Sorokin actively choosing to pay the banks back even though she could’ve appealed and maybe gotten away with not having to pay them back at all, but… how is this any different from her just getting the money in the first place? The Insider story says she wanted to pay people back, believing that she owed money even if she doesn’t necessarily believe she’s a criminal, so what did this Son Of Sam Law do if she’s allowed to use this money for that?

Basically, it kind of seems like Netflix just indirectly paid off her fines and restitutions so it could have the rights to her story, which is certainly one way to use that money from the recent price hikes.

 
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