How House Arrest, Being Hated and Yearning for Freedom Is Changing the Scammer

Cont. ...Julia Fox says Delvey, too, is something of a scapegoat for New York’s bloated gentry. The “Uncut Gems” actress, who famously dated Kanye West last year following his split from Kim Kardashian, has known Delvey since before her arrest and remains part of her circle of friends.

“The way that she’s being treated is just really unfortunate,” Fox says, “because then you see all these people getting away with similar things in broad daylight. What message is that sending? If she were a man, she would be a billionaire right now and no one would have questioned it.”

Fox has little patience for the finger-wagging at Delvey. “She would have been successful, and I do think that the quote-unquote scamming would have stopped,” Fox adds. “She did what all these rich guys do. They don’t use their own money for any projects they do — it’s all borrowed. And that’s what she was just trying to do. Oh, did she have to falsify some documents? Yeah. But so do those fucking guys.”

With Williams’ help, Delvey was arrested on Oct. 3, 2017, setting off a news-cycle tsunami. New York magazine’s Jessica Pressler scored the first interview with an incarcerated Delvey, and her subsequent feature served as the basis for “Inventing Anna.” After being convicted and sentenced to four to 12 years in prison, Delvey was released in 2021, only to become ensnared by ICE over immigration violations less than two months later. Her fate could be resolved tomorrow or years from now. There’s no timeline when it comes to ICE.

In the meantime, she can’t leave her apartment, prompting her to get creative with her pursuits. For the podcast, she initially had to use a specific VPN that restricts detainees’ internet use and keeps them from accessing things like porn. Sometimes the connection conked out mid-podcast. Then there’s the dinner-party show, which has already banked episodes with Cynthia Rowley and Timo Weiland. Elon Musk would be a dream attendee, she says. Just don’t call it a reality show even though Wheelhouse Entertainment’s Brent Montgomery (“Pawn Stars”) is producing. (She was working with reality powerhouse Bunim/ Murray on another one of her apartment-set docuseries.)

“I was really adamant about not including the ‘reality show’ label. It’s never used in a good way, right? It’s always like, ‘Oh, this shallow superficial person …,’” she laments. “It’s also hard to like sit down at dinner when two or three are having a conversation. It’s hard to capture that on camera. But I have a great team working on that.”

She’s also planning a documentary that uses footage from cameras installed in the apartment. Delvey’s idea is more performance art than “Big Brother” knockoff. “Like a time-lapse,” she says. “Just to communicate the monotony of what it’s like to be in the same space for extended periods of time.”

The sun sinks in the sky as dusk approaches. We head back down to Delvey’s apartment, where I say my goodbyes to Haskell, who has been waiting in the same chair during her two-hour absence on the roof. It turns out Haskell is Chalamet’s first cousin — a fact Delvey notes when I mention the resemblance. Because it sounds like a line, I confirm it by Googling Haskell’s full name while Delvey busies herself finding a pair of flip-flops. Haskell’s father is director Rodman Flender, a Roger Corman acolyte who went on to direct for such series as “The Office” and “Gilmore Girls.” Delvey seems uninterested in the Chalamet connection or my suggestion of trying to get the Oscar-nominated actor to appear on her podcast.

“I honestly have nothing to talk about with actors. I wouldn’t know what to talk about. We don’t have any shared experiences,” she says, pausing while she collects her thoughts. “I think I like talking to journalists.” (Tellingly, she counts Pressler as a friend who has visited the apartment socially.)

Still, one final question needs to be asked: Does Delvey regret the con? ...Cont.

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