Anna Sorokin Says She Received Hundreds Of Death Threats Over Bunnies Abandoned In Brooklyn Park

Anna "Delvey" Sorokin says she's received hundreds of decease threats successful nan days since she was accused of dumping pet rabbits she posed pinch for a photoshoot successful a Brooklyn park.

The fake German heiress who stole tens of thousands of dollars from banks posed alongside 3 bunnies connected nan streets of Manhattan's posh Tribeca vicinity past week. The bunnies were recognized and discovered successful Brooklyn's Prospect Park days later, prompting fierce online backlash.

But nan headline-making New York City socialite — who vehemently denied work for nan discarded bunnies — said successful an question and reply pinch NBC News that she's peculiarly shocked by nan beardown guidance complete nan incident.

"It conscionable seems to maine for illustration everything I do is conscionable wrong," Sorokin, 34, said successful a telephone telephone pinch NBC News. "I tin ne'er do correct by these people."

Sorokin shared screenshots of dozens of hateful messages she's received wrong nan past fewer days to her Instagram — which she called "unusable" — pinch NBC News. Some of them propose that she she should beryllium killed aliases return her ain life, including 1 that advises Sorokin to get personification to "make a carpet retired of your skin."

“It seems for illustration a batch of these people, conscionable because they’re engaged successful animal rescue, they consciousness for illustration they’re entitled to reproach you aliases talk to you aliases opportunity thing because they’re hiding down this point that they’re doing,” she said.

The 34-year-old, whose life was depicted successful Netflix's deed 2022 bid "Inventing Anna," took nan photoshoot pinch nan bunnies connected August 3 to create contented for her Instagram account, which has much than 1.1 cardinal followers.

Shortly earlier nan shoot, she posted connected Instagram communicative asking if immoderate of her followers successful nan New York City metropolitan area had a pet rabbit she could get for nan shoot, Sorokin said.

Christian Batty, a 19-year-old hairsbreadth stylist Sorokin met concisely past year, reached retired to her and offered what he described arsenic a friend's rabbits, she said.

Sorokin added that she paid Batty to supply nan rabbits and for his Uber to return nan rabbits to their proprietor successful Yonkers — aliases truthful she thought. A screenshot of nan Uber receipt Sorokin shared pinch NBC News show nan ride's driblet disconnected location was conscionable southbound of Prospect Park, wherever nan rabbits were later spotted.

Days later, she said she started receiving messages connected societal media astir nan rabbits being spotted successful Prospect Park. A Facebook personification posted images of nan domesticated bunnies successful nan parkland to a nationalist Facebook group dedicated to rabbits, House Rabbit Society, and different users connected them to Sorokin's photos.

Sorokin initially thought nan posts were fake, but nan flood of messages did not stop.

At first, Batty denied dumping nan rabbits successful nan park, according to screenshots of matter messages betwixt Sorokin, Batty and photographer Jasper Soloff that Sorokin posted connected her Instagram communicative and shared pinch NBC News.

"Jasper had nary knowledge aliases input arsenic to really nan bunnies were obtained aliases what happened to them aft nan photograph shoot," Soloff's attorney, Gary Adelman, said successful a statement.

Batty did not instantly return a petition for comment.

Hours later, Batty confessed that he did dump nan rabbits and absolved Sorokin of immoderate involvement, according to a connection he posted to his Instagram account, which has since been taken down.

"When I realized nan rabbits were being surrendered to me, I panicked," Batty said successful nan statement, screenshots of which were provided by Sorokin. "At 19, pinch nary acquisition caring for animals, nary pet-friendly housing, and nary knowledge of disposable resources, I felt overwhelmed and made nan worst imaginable choice."

"Believing, mistakenly, that location were existing rabbits successful that area, I released them there, reasoning that was my champion option," he added.

Sorokin pushed backmost connected nan conception that Batty's property was an issue.

"He's aged capable to move to New York and unrecorded connected his own, he should person capable communal consciousness to grip rabbits," Sorokin said. "We're not for illustration asking him to do thing that requires precocious IQ from him. I conscionable don't cognize what to say."

Sorokin said that she was concerned astir really nan incident mightiness impact her pending migration case.

Sorokin was convicted by a Manhattan assemblage successful April 2019 connected 4 counts of theft services, 3 counts of expansive larceny and 1 count of attempted expansive larceny aft being accused of defrauding banks and friends of tens of thousands of dollars.

Prosecutors said that Sorokin convinced friends and businesses to indebtedness her money to spend a lavish manner nether nan guise that she was nan girl of a lipid baron aliases diplomat, worthy tens of millions of dollars.

In 2021, Sorokin was released connected parole while she fights deportation. She has been forced to deterioration an physics ankle show and cannot time off a 75-mile location apprehension radius based successful New York.

"This time, I've done thing wrong," she said. "And I had nan champion intentions and it's really frustrating."

The New York Times reported that nan rabbits were rescued by blogger Terry Chao, who spotted nan rabbits successful nan park. Chao could not instantly beryllium reached for comment.

Sorokin said she donated $1,000 to nan group All About Rabbits Rescue successful nan aftermath of nan scandal. She besides denied harming nan rabbits by putting them successful leashes, arsenic immoderate person suggested online.

"I don't know, I'm not a bunny professional. I didn't cognize nan leashes were specified a large deal," she said. "We would put them down for, I don't know, a infinitesimal aliases two, return a image and prime them up. We were not stepping them by immoderate means. And they seemed to beryllium happy."