I can’t give Anna Delvey a chance to dance with anyone

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CW: A discussion on deportation, ICE, and the death penalty

Spoilers for Season 33 Episode 2 dancing with the stars

I’ve been watching dancing with the stars Ever since I was a kid. My grandma, mom, and I loved watching these kinds of shows: shows that put celebrities into new situations to challenge them. Most of the time, I have no idea who the celebrities are (unless they’re from the Disney Channel), but I enjoy watching them and voting for my favorite each week.

Twenty years later, I still have no idea who most of the celebrities are, but I still look forward to hearing who will appear this season. Imagine my surprise when one of the few names I recognized was Anna Delvey.

Between 2013 and 2017, Delvey (born Anna Sorokin) invented the persona of a German heiress and used it to defraud wealthy New York fashionistas out of $275,000. Her story became widely known after one of the people she cheated on, former friend Rachel DeLoache Williams, wrote a book. my friend anna (I discussed this with Rah on this podcast). The book tells how Delvey invited her on an “all-expenses-paid” trip to Marrakech, Morocco, and asked her to pay the $62,000 bill. It also follows her attempts to get the money back, and ultimately details how she worked with the NYPD on the case, leading to Delvey’s arrest and conviction. Delvey has since been paroled for fraud, but is currently in ICE custody for overstaying his visa. She is currently under house arrest as she fights deportation to Germany.

So imagine my surprise when I learned that ICE, an organization known for tearing families apart over lack of documentation and speeding tickets, allowed Delvey to travel to Los Angeles to film a movie. dancing with the stars But it’s important to note that she continues to wear an ankle monitor.

Let’s be clear: Anna Delvey got this opportunity because she was pretty and white. Because of her whiteness, she had to “reinvent” herself on live television as a fashionista and entrepreneur rather than a hustler.

I don’t think of her as “iconic” or a “girlboss” when I see the camera and dance intentionally framing her dizzying ankle monitors. I think of ICE putting children in cages and undocumented people fearing deportation. I thought about the hateful lies spread by a U.S. vice presidential candidate about the Haitian immigrant community in Springfield, Ohio, and how those lies put them at risk. I thought about how the governor of Missouri and the U.S. Supreme Court refused to grant a stay of execution to Marcellus Williams after DNA testing exonerated him, and how he is now dead, murdered by a government and system that prioritized white people.

Black and brown incarcerated people don’t have the same opportunities that Delvey did. They didn’t get the Netflix shows out of it to pay for legal fees and more than $4,000 a month in rent. So I’m sorry, dancing with the stars Judge Carrie Ann Inaba. I couldn’t “just give this a chance.” This has nothing to do with Delvey being on the show after his conviction. It’s about the fact that Day after day, the opportunities for fair skin are increasing. It’s about how the show highlighted this double standard by basing it around her ankle monitor and calling her the “infamous ankle bracelet fashionista.” It’s about how she responds to “How do you feel?” even when given the chance, “I’m glad I don’t have to do this dance anymore.”

After being eliminated when asked, “What did you get out of this competition?” dancing with the starsher answer was “nothing”. Saying this after being given such an opportunity is just a way for her to continue to flaunt the privilege that her white identity affords her. This makes me angry.

You can learn more about the Innocence Network and its work on cases like Marcellus Williams’ here.