While pro dancer Artem Chigvintsev’s domestic dispute arrest seemed like it would be the most controversial news item connected to the world of Dancing with the Stars, the ABC competition series itself unveiled that the convicted felon and con artist Anna Delvey (real name Anna Sorokin) is part of the Season 33 lineup including U.S. Olympian Stephen Nedoroscik and others who didn’t require special government permission to be part of the upcoming TV schedule.
Delvey and her partner Erza Sosa were interviewed on Entertainment Tonight, and her glib comments were enough to send Whoopi Goldberg and her fellow panelists on The View to go off on the disgraced socialite, whose popularity exploded due to Netflix’s lawsuit-provoking limited series Inventing Anna. Wearing both sunglasses and an ankle monitor — she’s on house arrest outside of reality TV duties — she said this when asked about being nervous or intimidated about joining DWTS.
I mean, what’s the worst that can happen? [Laughs.] They’re not going to arrest me for dancing badly.
It was addressed by Entertainment Tonight that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) granted Anna Delvey special permission for her Dancing with the Stars debut. It seems like that not only includes appearing and competing on the show, but promoting it as well.
How Whoopi Goldberg And The View Hosts Reacted
After setting up the interview clip by calling Anna Delvey a "convicted artist who became a pop culture sensation," The View moderator Whoopi Goldberg laid out what the real issue is with the scammer landing a spot on a broadcast network (and streaming) series. In her words:
I think back to all the families who have had family members arrested by ICE who have gone to the courts to get their dad or their brother or their mother back, and this woman, they gave her permission to go do this. Now, should I think there’s a reason, a two-tiered system here with ICE?
No details have seemingly been unveiled regarding how and why ICE gave the go-ahead for a criminal to enjoy the luxury of being a reality TV star, but Goldberg spoke to the arguable double-standard that allows Delvey such access.
Sunny Hostin spoke up in agreement, pointing out Delvey's past crimes and asking why she isn't still suffering further consequences despite not having righted the actions that landed her behind bars to begin with. As Hostin put it:
It feels like that. If we think about it, she defrauded so many people and then spent about two years in prison, and then had to spend another 18 months in prison for overstaying her welcome and overstaying her Visa. So she committed another crime. And what is the — I don’t know — consequence of it? A federal bejeweled ankle monitor and a spot on a television show. And you think of Gypsy Rose, who…some people say she didn’t kill her mother, some people say she did put a hit on her mother, and now all of a sudden she’s got a reality show.
Alyssa Farah Griffin chimed in at that point, and explained the specific perspective she takes in situations like this, offering Gypsy Role Blanchard an olive branch for the dues she'd paid. In Griffin's words:
I’m here for a redemption arc, but not a rehabilitation arc, and the difference is this: somebody who has owned and taken responsibility for what they did wrong. Martha Stewart, she did jail time; I am here to see Martha Stewart thrive. Even Gypsy Rose, I put her into that category because she did the time and acknowledged her wrongdoing for what she did. I’m not convinced that [Anna Delvey] has. She still owes people money, and con artists tend to remain con artists, so I’ll just say if you’re around her there, I’d be wary about schemes she might be working.
To be sure, Anna Delvey did say around the time of the Netflix series with Julia Garner that she was intent on moving away from her scammer persona in the years that followed. It's impossible to say whether or not joining Dancing with the Stars is a functional step on that path, but it's one she's taking nonetheless.
When all was said and done, and you can bet that more words were shared about it, Griffin still admitted that she'd be tuning in regardless as a diehard DWTS fan. And she won't be alone.
Dancing with the Stars Season 33 will premiere live on ABC and Disney+ on Tuesday, September 7, at 8:00 p.m. ET.
