Scammer of New York’s elite, Anna Delvey, whose real name is Anna Sorokin, has blasted claims that she dumped rabbits at a Brooklyn park after using them in a photoshoot.
ICYMI, Anna Delvey, who rose to prominence for her highly publicised fauxsocialite crimes, which were then dramatised into the viral Netflix 2022 series Inventing Anna, has been embroiled in another scandal after netizens noticed three rabbits running amok in a Brooklyn Park.
The scandal first began to simmer online when Brooklyn locals noticed rabbits roaming the city’s Prospect Park.
In one Facebook post, reshared on X by @zedonarrival, a local asked for assistance in locating one of the cuddly critters.
However, upon further examination of the rabbits, people noticed that they were identical to the ones used in Delvey’s most recent photoshoot, where she walked around the city with the bunnies on a bright pink lead.
Shortly after the bunnies went viral, many folks flocked to Delvey’s Instagram, calling out the fake socialite for the treatment of the creatures.
“These animals were left in a park to die right after this photoshoot. Living things are not your photo props,” one person wrote.
“She dumped these rabbits in the park after!!!! REPORT her,” another commented.
“Anna did you know dumping rabbits is illegal? and unethical? But that shouldn’t be surprising, given you never cared about the rabbits and just saw them as accessories. Cruel,” wrote a third.
Anna Delvey denies claims she dumped the rabbits
Following the scathing accusations, the scammer-turned-IG-model swiftly denied claims she brutally dumped the rabbits and instead said that a member on the “hair team” for the photoshoot was responsible for sourcing the animals for the shoot.
“As many of you are aware, I recently did a shoot with Jasper Soloff involving live rabbits,” Delvey began in a statement on her Instagram Stories.
“Christian Batty, a member of the hair team I briefly met during a fashion week event last year, responded that he knew someone who could lend us bunnies for a few hours,” she continued.
“I later discovered that, instead of borrowing animals from a legitimate source like he claimed, he had obtained them via Facebook Marketplace and intended to release them into Prospect Park, a plan of which I had no knowledge. That idea that someone could compromise the well-being of innocent animals for personal networking opportunities is deeply disturbing to me.”
Delvey went on to say she was “appalled” with the treatment of the animals and that she’s working to “ensure these rabbits are rehomed safely”.
“I do not eat meat, and I had no involvement in the acquisition, transport or return of these animals. I would never condone these actions,” Delvey added.
After sharing her statement, Delvey shared a series of text conversations where Batty seemingly confesses to dumping the rabbits, claiming that he was “panicking” about the creatures.
Delvey then accused Batty of lying “for days about returning the rabbits”.
“Turns out his plan all along was to dump them,” she wrote in a separate story featuring a text conversation with the alleged original owner of the rabbits.
Terry Chao (who posts under @veganchao on Instagram) confirmed that the bunnies are now in a safe place. Chao also shared a confession from Batty, where he admitted that dumping the creatures was “wrong, cruel and inexcusable”.
At the time of writing, Delvey’s photoshoot with the adorable little bunnies is still public on her Instagram, with many comments criticising her for using the fluffy thangs as props.
She has since donated USD$1000 (AUD$1538) to All About Rabbits Rescue following the saga.
