"Inventing Anna": Fact Versus Fiction!

"Inventing Anna", a drama released on Netflix last month by Shondaland productions, just seems too good to be true. How is it possible for a twenty-something to pose as a rich German heiress in New York City and successfully scam her elite social circle out of hundreds of thousands of dollars for years before being caught? The story of Anna Sorokin is true, and was written about in a 2018 article by Jessica Pressler for The Cut. However, the Netflix drama did fictionalize some aspects of the show, leading fans to wonder how to separate fact from fiction. Below are some of the craziest things to happen in the show, and whether they are truly real or a detail added by Shonda & Co.!

1. Did Anna Really Steal a Jet? 

Yes, this one actually happened! In the show, Anna (played by Julia Garner) takes a private jet to billionaire Warren Buffet’s annual conference in Omaha, Nebraska — and never actually paid for it. While not paying for a private jet seems totally unreal, this actually did happen IRL. Anna was friends with Rob Wiesenthal, the CEO of a company called Blade that chartered private jets and helicopters. Since they ran in the same social circles, Wiesenthal was under the impression that Anna would eventually pay back the $35,000 fee. Instead, he received a forged wire transfer confirmation, and Anna successfully continued her charade. 

2. Does Chase Sikorski Actually Exist? 

Yes and no; this one is complicated. In the show, Chase Sikorski (played by Saamer Usmani) is Anna’s tech-bro boyfriend that helps bankroll her lavish lifestyle. However, the show technically made up this character, as Pressler's article only mentions that Anna had a “futurist TED talk boyfriend" without disclosing his real name. The real-life Anna attempted to capitalize on this by sharing on her Instagram stories that she would tell media outlets her ex-boyfriend’s name for $10,000, but her friends unveiled the mystery man before she could get the chance. Her actual boyfriend was Hunter Lee Soik, a tech entrepreneur, although, just like in the show, nobody quite understood what he did according to a Page Sixinterview. 

3. Did Anna Get The VIP Treatment Even In Prison? 

The private room and special treatment due to “media visits” in the show actually never happened. This was debunked by Anna herself, who told the New York Times in an interview that there “def was no tea” at Rikers. The only thing her upstate New York prison had was a cash-only coffee machine visitors were able to use. Anna was also never brought underwear by journalist Vivian Kent (the fictionalized version of Jessica Pressler from the series). That doesn’t mean Pressler didn’t supply her with other items though…

4. Did Jessica Actually Give Anna Her Own Clothes To Wear For The Trial? 

Vivian Kent’s character is a stand-in for real-life journalist Jessica Pressler, who wrote the exposé for New York Magazine’s The Cut (retitled Manhattan Magazine in "Inventing Anna"). As depicted in the series, Vivian wanted to redeem herself after an earlier mistake threatened to end her career — a mistake that happened in reality after a piece Pressler had written in 2014 was proved ot be a hoax. This would explain the attachment that Kent/Pressler has towards Anna’s story, and is discussed in the show as Vivian struggles wth the decision to loan Anna clothes for the trial as her husband questions her emotional involvement in the case. However, Pressler has said that it wasn’t so much an emotional issue rather than a practical one. As we see in the show, defendants have to wear civilian clothes during trial in order to prevent biased outcomes. After getting a few outfits supplied by the court, Anna refused to wear them, which led Anna’s lawyer to ask Pressler to pick some up for her to wear. "That sort of opened the door for me to fill the gap whenever there was a 'wardrobe malfunction,' as the prosecutor put it," Pressler toldVulture. "I did throw in one of my dresses at one point, but it was black. I did not feel like it was a conflict at all. I felt like, 'This will be a funny story someday.'"

"Inventing Anna" is now streaming on Netflix!