Are you involved with the Netflix show Inventing Anna?
I have no affiliation with Inventing Anna nor was I involved with the making of the show.
How do you feel about the Netflix show Inventing Anna?
I was asked to write a piece about this for Graydon Carter’s AirMail. You can read it here. In brief: Take it from someone who knows: This is the art of the con, a shell game that proffers irresistible thrills for low stakes, while a sleight of hand carries out the high-roller business unseen. Netflix isn’t just putting out a fictional story. It’s effectively running a con woman’s P.R.—and putting money in her pocket.
Why did you choose to write an article and a book?
While still in debt and recovering from the emotional impact of having been deceived, I began to write as an act of catharsis. When later, news of Anna began to surface in the media, I felt it was important to provide an account of what happened in my own words. I hoped my story would serve as a cautionary tale.
Is there anything you wish you could say to Anna today?
Enough time and energy has been spent on Anna. What interests me today is the power of storytelling—examining how true crime entertainment impacts the criminal justice process and our understanding of real life events. When true stories are cycled and recycled—in everything from documentaries and dramatizations to magazine stories and memes—the “continuous looping and reformatting … results in the blurring of fact and fiction,” writes Ray Surette, a professor of criminal justice who studies the meeting of modern media and the criminal-justice system. “People come to believe that fictional events are real, that real events didn’t happen, and that hybrid—part real, part fiction—events are common.”
Did Anna ever pay you back? What happened to the debt?
Anna never paid me back. Two years after Marrakech, following the trial and Anna’s conviction, American Express protected me from charges made at La Mamounia. I covered the remaining balance directly.
What’s going on with HBO, is Lena Dunham adapting your book?
HBO and Lena Dunham did option My Friend Anna; that option has since expired, and the project is not currently in development.
Are you still working at Vanity Fair?
Unrelated to events with Anna, I was laid off from Vanity Fair in February 2019 due to industry-wide cutbacks. My relationship with former and present Vanity Fair staffers remains positive and I am grateful to have had their full support throughout the ordeal.
What are you up to now?
I continue to write and am also a freelance photographer, producer, and creative consultant.