Con-artist Anna Delvey has been caught in a yet another scandal, following a rabbit-themed photoshoot.
The Russian native, 34, whose real name is Anna Sorokin, is famously known for falsely posing as a German heiress to gain social status and defrauding a series of banks, hotels, and individuals out of $275,000.
Delvey has now been caught in yet another scandal after two bunnies that appeared to be the same ones used in her shoot, were found abandoned in a park in Brooklyn, New York.
However, Delvey says she was unaware of how the bunnies were precured for the shoot, with a 19-year-old assistant taking full responsibility.
According to a Reddit user, they rescued a rabbit named Parker from the park on August 4, and placed in foster care.
Three days later, on Thursday, the Reddit user was notified of another rabbit that had been found in Prospect Park, writing they also saved that bunny and arranged for someone to foster it.
Posts on local Facebook pages in the area alerted neighbors to the rabbits, guessing they were pets due to their domesticated nature.
Eagle-eyed Reddit users noticed both of the rabbits look identical to the ones featured in images and pinned Instagram Stories posted by Delvey during the recent shoot, which show her posing on the streets of New York with two bunnies on leads.
The Russian native, 34, whose real name is Anna Sorokin, is famously known for falsely posing as a German heiress to gain social status and defrauding a series of banks, hotels, and individuals out of $275,000
Immediately, sleuths took to social media to share their findings, slamming Delvey for animal cruelty.
‘SHAME ON YOU! Dumping these poor rabbits after ridiculous photoshoot! you should just go back to jail!’ one user wrote under the Instagram photos of the shoot.
‘Have some accountability. How can you be okay with these posts knowing the danger you put those rabbits in? What’s wrong with you???’ someone else commented.
Someone else chimed in: ‘Why use animals to begin with, they are NOT props.’
In one screenshot shared online, Delvey claimed the bunnies were at home with their owners.
‘The bunnies that were borrowed for our shoot are safe at home with their owners,’ she left in a comment on her Instagram.
The assistant on the independent shoot, Christian Batty, initially denied the bunnies that were found in the park were the ones used on the shoot, but he later released a statement claiming responsibility.
Batty confessed to dumping the rabbits in Prospect Park, assuring people that Delvey wasn’t aware of the situation and he sourced the animals for the shoot.
The assistant on the shoot reportedly sourced the rabbits on Facebook marketplace (pictured is an exchange between Christian Batty and someone on Instagram who said he also asked to use her bunny)
Delvey says she was unaware of how the bunnies were precured for the shoot, with a 19-year-old assistant taking full responsibility
Eagle-eyed Reddit users noticed both of the rabbits appear identical to the ones featured in images and pinned Instagram Stories posted by Delvey during her the recent shoot, which show her posing on the streets of New York with two bunnies on leads
In a statement posted to social media, which Delvey re-shared, he added they are being fostered by someone in New York for the time being.
‘It was an unfortunate situation, but the bunnies are okay now,’ he wrote in the statement.
‘Anna was in the photoshoot with the bunnies, but not involved in anything beyond that photoshoot and did not realize the situation until today.’
‘I lied to Anna, and the rest of Anna’s team about the rabbits,’ he confessed.
‘When I realized the rabbits were being surrendered to me, I panicked. I had no experience caring for animals, no pet-friendly housing, and no knowledge of available resources,’ he shared.
Batty continued, writing he was ‘overwhelmed and made the worst possible choice’, thinking that there were ‘existing rabbits in that area.’
Internet sleuths connected the bunnies found in Prospect Park were the one used in Delvey’s shoot
The assistant on the independent shoot, Christian Batty, initially denied the bunnies that were found in the park were the ones used on the shoot, but he later released a statement claiming responsibility
‘I released them there, thinking that was my best option. The belief was wrong and I regret it deeply,’ he wrote. ‘I am relieved to hear that the rabbits are now safe, but I deeply regret the harm I caused. I also want to be clear that Anna had no knowledge of my actions until this afternoon, and I ask that any mention of them be removed from the situation.’
‘My actions were wrong, and I will do everything I can to make sure nothing like this happens again,’ he concluded the statement.
In a statement supplied to the Daily Mail, Delvey said: ‘As many of you are aware, I recently did a shoot with Jasper Soloff involving live rabbits. Christian Batty, a member of the hair team I briefly met with during a fashion week event last year, responded that he knew someone who could lend us bunnies for a few hours.
‘I later discovered that, instead of borrowing animals from a legitimate source, he had obtained them via Facebook marketplace and intended to release them to Prospect Park, a plan of which I had no knowledge. The idea that someone would compromise the well-being of innocent animals for personal networking opportunities is deeply disturbing to me.
‘I am highly disturbed by what transpired. As talent, it’s not my job to source or return animals, but as am animal lover, I can promise I will never work with them again without knowing exactly where they came from and how they’re getting home.
‘I do not eat meat, and I have no involvement in the acquisition, transport, or return of these animals. I would never condone these actions.’
