The rise of “false heiress” Anna Delvey, a.k.a. Anna Sorokin, as she defrauds her way to the pinnacle of New York City society is shown in the new Netflix series Inventing Anna.
Although Anna is unquestionably honest, not everything in her story is.
According to the show’s trailer, “save for the portions that are made up,” Inventing Anna is based on a true story. And there are still a lot of unanswered questions.
For instance, how well-known was Billy McFarland, the man behind the disastrous Fyre Festival? What about Chase Sorokin, her lover (was he real?)?
Vivian Kent, a journalist for Manhattan Magazine, also tracked Anna down behind her boss’s back.
Did she figure out who Anna was? Here’s everything you need to know about Vivian Kent’s career as a journalist.
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Table of contents
Vivian Kent is based on Jessica Pressler, a Real Journalist.
The character of Vivian Kent, performed by actress Anna Chlumsky, is based on Jessica Pressler, a journalist.
According to her LinkedIn profile, Pressler spent 13 years (from 2007 to 2020) as a contributing editor at New York Magazine. She looked at Anna Sorokin.
The Netflix series was motivated by Pressler’s 2018 piece debunking Anna and her protracted scam.
The show also draws inspiration from Pressler’s life for some of Vivian’s adventures. While looking for Anna, Pressler and Vivian were both pregnant.
“I was pregnant while reporting that story and finished it two weeks or so before I had a baby,” Pressler told Vulture.
In the show, Vivian goes to Germany to track Anna’s parents after the news about her is published.
Pressler added that this is also (mostly) accurate: “I was hearing so many different stories about Anna, and it kept growing.” Pressler, however, “definitely did not try to break into anyone’s home,” in contrast to Vivian.
Even the scenes in which Vivian assists Anna in finding appropriate clothing for her trial are genuine. According to Pressler, “there was some snafu, and the garments didn’t get there, and that held up the trial” during the first week of the trial.
“It wasn’t just Anna’s vanity at work; defendants must usually appear in court dressed because wearing a prison jumpsuit could sway the jury.”
They can borrow clothes from the court, but I believe they didn’t on the first day for some reason.”
Finally, “when Todd Spodek, Anna’s attorney, or his paralegal asked, “Can you just go to H&M?” Yes, for the love of God, let’s get this over with. Otherwise, this wardrobe nonsense would waste everyone’s time.”
Vivian is therefore based on Pressler, even though she was created as a fictional character. Even though the details are different, Pressler said the show has an emotional truth.
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This isn’t her only story that made it to Hollywood.
Pressler revealed another plan before she discovered Anna.
She exposed a group of strippers who defrauded strip club patrons out of thousands of dollars in her 2015 article,
“The Hustlers at Scores.” Sounds recognizable? The 2019 movie Hustlers, starring Julia Stiles and Jennifer Lopez, was inspired by Pressler’s article.
How much is Anna Delvey worth now?
According to the New York Post, she claimed to be worth $60 million, but the entire claim was untrue.
She stole a lot of cash. The Post reports that Anna stole an estimated $275,000 from her friends, shops, and hotels. She also once tried to get a $22 million loan from a bank but was unsuccessful.
She made a lot of money selling her own stories.
According to insiders, Anna earned $320,000 from Netflix to get the rights to turn her story into a TV series of her own life. But it got a little complicated.
New York State froze her assets in May 2019 under the Son of Thumb Act, which prevents criminals from profiting from their crimes.
Anna’s money was eventually released.
After signing with Netflix, Anna paid the victim $199,000, according to insiders.
She also paid a fine of $24,000. Technically, she didn’t have to — she could keep her money if she succeeded in appealing.
Dmitry Shaknevich said, “If an appeal overturns her conviction, everything about the sentence (financial, criminal, and otherwise) will be null and void.”
According to the Post, Anna said in court, “I’m ashamed of what I did, and I just want to say I’m sorry.” “I fully understand what you are doing.”
She paid back many of her victims, so a judge ordered the state to unblock Anna’s bank account so she could use the rest of the money.
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She also had to pay her attorney’s fees.
Of course, Anna’s lawyer also wanted payment. According to insiders, Anna paid $75,000 for her legal fees, but she could have to pay more.
So how much is Anna Delby worth now? Most likely, not many. After paying off victims and legal fees, Anna could be left with $22,000. It’s unclear what deal she has with Netflix, but it’s possible she could make even more money out of shame in the future.
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Her career today?
After leaving New York Magazine in 2020, Pressler became a special correspondent for Vanity Fair. Currently, she’s a producer on “Inventing Anna.”
Pressler recently revealed that after publishing her article, she received dozens of requests to bring the story to the screen.
But it’s been an avalanche of calls from everyone I’ve ever looked up to in the entertainment industry. You might think that’s a great dream, but I’m saying no to all but one of these people. It was also a nightmare, as I had to say.
Pressler, who became the series producer, said he had no idea it was coming. “Honestly, I don’t think that was my idea.” I think my agent brought it up. It didn’t make much sense to me,” she explained.
“But I think it’s important for writers to be attached and part of something based on their work, even if you’re not part of the creative process. Nor was it involved in the day-to-day work of Inventing Anna, but it was a revolving, open door. “
Now she enjoys tweeting about Anna’s inventions and sharing behind-the-scenes information with fans of the series.
“This is for question 1.” “Yes, that’s what she sounds like, and Julia Garner is a genius,” Pressler wrote, tweeting a video explaining how Garner developed Anna’s accent for the show. (That’s pretty impressive, TBH.)
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FAQS
Pressler, who served as the show’s Vivian (played by Anna Clumsky), spoke to Vulture about watching the narrative develop on television. Pressler believes that Vivian is always going to be different from him. “The character is a guide to this universe, and the show is fictionalized.
The movie Inventing Anna depicted how Vivian Kent fabricated information on a young man named Donovan Lamb, who claimed to have amassed millions of dollars before exposing his deception.
Jessica Pressler is currently employed where? Pressler is listed as a contributing editor at Vanity Fair on her Simon & Schuster author page, although her website lists New York magazine as her place of employment.
However, I did travel to Germany. As the number of different Anna-related stories I heard increased and conspiracy theories proliferated, I realized I had enough material to write some books. I went anyway, but it wasn’t exactly like that.
Jessica Pressler, Both Vivian Kent (Anna Chlumsky), the journalist who penned the infamous article on Anna Delvey, and Manhattan Magazine are made-up. Kent, however, differs significantly from Jessica Pressler, a writer for the New York Magazine, in a few key ways.
CONCLUSION
Vivian Kent isn’t a real person, unlike most other prominent characters. She is based on a real person, though.
The journalist Jessica Pressler, who, like Vivian, wrote the significant story about Anna in 2018, is the model for the character.
The Cut published a real-life article titled “How Anna Delvey Tricked New York’s Party People,” which you can read here.
The rights to turn the article into Inventing Anna were purchased by Netflix and Shondaland shortly after it was published.
Pressler did publish an article in 2014 about a high schooler who claimed to have won $72 million by trading stocks. Still, it was discovered to be a hoax, just like Vivian in Inventing Anna.
Pressler had received a job offer from Bloomberg News, but they withdrew it due to the scandal.
Pressler is also well-known for penning the 2015 piece “The Hustlers at Scores,” which inspired the 2019 movie Hustlers.
Big names like Jennifer Lopez, Constance Wu, Lizzo, Lili Reinhart, Keke Palmer, and Cardi B appear in the film, which Lorene Scafaria directs.
Even though Jessica Pressler is fictionalized as Vivian Kent, much of her story is based on actual events.