Rachel DeLoache Williams Sues Netflix for Defamation in 'Inventing Anna'
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Update, 3/27/24: A judge has ruled that Rachel DeLoache Williams's defamation lawsuit can proceed. The original story on the lawsuit, below.
Original, 8/30/22: Rachel DeLoache Williams is not happy with Netflix's Inventing Anna. The show, which chronicles the grifts of fake heiress Anna Delvey, features Katie Lowes as Williams, the victim of one of Anna's scams, who lost $60,000.
When the show came out, Williams made it clear she believes that Inventing Anna was ethically dubious. "Netflix isn’t just putting out a fictional story. It’s effectively running a con woman’s P.R.—and putting money in her pocket," she wrote in Air Mail. "People have never loved grift stories as much as they do today, and media companies are competing to give viewers what they want. In the case of Anna Sorokin, Netflix moved so quickly that their involvement influenced the nature of the very story they intended to dramatize."
Now, Williams has filed a defamation lawsuit against Netflix. "The catastrophic damage to Williams' reputation was completely avoidable," the filing reads.
The lawsuit argues that "Netflix made a deliberate decision for dramatic purposes to show Williams doing or saying things in the Series which portray her as a greedy, snobbish, disloyal, dishonest, cowardly, manipulative and opportunistic person."
Thesuit rejects how Williams was portrayed in Inventing Anna, saying she was depicted as a "vile and contemptible person," and this led her to be the subject of a torrent of online abuse, negative in-person interactions, and pejorative characterizations."
My Friend Anna: The True Story of a Fake Heiress
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Williams authored My Friend Anna: The True Story of the Fake Heiress Who Conned Me and Half of New York City, and sold the rights to her story to HBO.
The lawsuit argues that the defamation was, in part, retaliation for selling her story to a competitor.
"Netflix gave fictional names to many of the real life protagonists in the Sorokin saga who appear in the Series, but it did not afford Williams the same protection. Instead, it used her real name and personal details (such as her employer, neighborhood and alma mater) in the Series and cast an actress who resembled her in many ways," the lawsuit argues. "Given the easy alternative of protecting her by using a fictional name, the decision to use her real name evidences Netflix's intent to harm her reputation, thereby justifying the imposition of punitive damages, especially if Netflix made that decision because Williams had sold her rights to the rival Sorokin project being developed by HBO."
We'll update this story as soon as we learn more about the lawsuit.
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