Anna Delvey's former friend Rachel DeLoache Williams is suing Netflix for defamation over her portrayal in ‘Inventing Anna’.
Rachel DeLoache Williams is suing Netflix
The former Vanity Fair staffer has launched legal action against the streaming service - who brought the story of the scammer socialite and how she fooled New York society into thinking she was a German heiress to life with showrunner Shonda Rhimes - after she alleges they invaded her privacy and defamed her through her depiction on the mini-series that starred Julia Garner and Anna Chlumsky.
The papers read: "This action will show 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.”
Rachel’s case argues: “This action is based firmly on statements of fact which are demonstrably false and the attribution of statements that she never made."
The ‘My Friend Anna’ author’s suit mentions that several news outlets - including Yahoo News, The Huffington Post and the New York Post - “commented on Netflix’s hatchet job” of her.
Rachel - who is requesting a trial by jury along with damages, punitive damages among other requests such as cost of suit- claims that "as a result of Netflix’s false portrayal of her as a vile and contemptible person,” she has been “subjected to a torrent of online abuse, negative in-person interactions, and pejorative characterizations in podcasts, etc. that were based on the series, which establish that Netflix’s actions exposed her to public contempt, ridicule, aversion or disgrace, or induced an evil opinion of her."
The case understands that Netflix has the "right to have an unpleasant character in the series,” but argue "should have given the character a fictitious name and changed the character’s identifying details so that no one would believe that the character was a portrayal 'of and concerning' the real Rachel Williams."
The documents go on to outline Rachel’s argument that they could have given the part another name.
They state that "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."
The court documents also highlight that the Rachel character - played by Katie Lowes - is seen using an Instagram account a real photo of Rachel is used, which “thereby blurring the boundaries between fact and fiction, and encouraging viewers to believe that the series depicts the real Rachel Williams."
It also lists a number of alleged defamatory statements made throughout the show, and states they "were made by Netflix with actual malice, defined as knowledge of falsity or reckless disregard for truth or falsity."
Tagged in Shonda Rhimes Julia Garner