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Whoopi Goldberg Criticizes ‘Dancing with the Stars’ for Anna Delvey Casting
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Whoopi Goldberg Criticizes ‘Dancing with the Stars’ for Anna Delvey Casting

It looks like not everyone will be cheering for Anna Delvey Dancing with the stars this season.

On Thursday, September 5, the co-hosts of The view released over the convicted con man’s booking on ABC’s reality dance competition.

Their criticism came a day after Delvey’s casting was announced and news broke that she had been granted permission by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to compete for the mirrorball trophy while under house arrest.

That didn’t go down well with presenter Whoopi Goldberg, who didn’t bite her tongue when she admitted that DWTS And The view Both air on ABC and therefore “we have to support the network.”

“I think about all the families that have had family members arrested by ICE, that have gone to court to get their father, mother, brother back,” she said. “And this woman, they gave her permission to do this. Am I supposed to think there’s a reason? Is there a two-tiered system here at ICE?”

Official cast photo from Anna Delvey’s ‘Dancing with the Stars’.

Disney/Andrew Eccles


Delvey, whose real name is Anna Sorkin, rose to prominence by posing as a wealthy German heiress and using her social status to scam wealthy individuals, banks, and hotels. She was arrested and convicted in 2017 of grand larceny in the first, second, and third degrees, as well as theft of services in 2019.

Her sentence included four to 12 years in prison, which was shortened when she was released for good behavior in February 2021. Shortly after her release, Delvey was taken into custody by ICE for violating the terms of her visa. She is living under house arrest in New York City while she fights her deportation case.

Summing up Delvey’s legal troubles, Sunny Hostin wondered “what is the consequence” of her crimes? “A jeweled ankle bracelet — a federal jeweled ankle bracelet — and then a spot on a TV show?”

“You have a criminal posing as president, why are we surprised?” said Sara Haines, referring to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who was found guilty in May on 34 counts of falsifying corporate records.

The memory even prompted Joy Behar to write a Dancing with the criminals spinoff. “I think that would be a real hit,” she teased.

Sunny Hostin, Joy Behar, Ana Navarro, Whoopi Goldberg, Sara Haines and Alyssa Farah Griffin.

ABC/JEFF LIPSKY


But jokes aside, Delvey’s casting still caused frustration among the co-hosts.

“I’m here for a redemption arc, not a rehabilitation arc: someone who has taken responsibility for what they did wrong,” Alyssa Farah Griffin noted. “I’m not convinced that this person has done that. Scammers will be scammers.”

Goldberg, who often leans back on pop culture topics, then jumped back in. “She still owes people money. I don’t understand why she’s allowed to stay!” Goldberg complained — Behar suggested it’s because Delvey is “beautiful.”

“Well, that’s a little bit of a pet peeve, I have to tell you,” Goldberg responded, connecting Delvey’s casting to the larger debate over immigration. “You know, I love beautiful people, too, but I have to say, I hear people whining about what’s happening at the border and I hear people whining about who shouldn’t be here — well, what the hell is going on, man? How does this work?”

“This is a (f— you) to a lot of people who have tried to come back to this country and to families who have been torn apart,” the EGOT winner said.

When Behar pointed out that the show has featured convicted felons in the past, including Teresa Giudice, Lil’ Kim and Tommy Chung, Goldberg noted that they did so while “not wearing ankle monitors.”

Anna Delvy and her ‘Dancing with the Stars’ partner, Ezra Sosa.

ABC/Jose Alvarado, Jr.


PEOPLE spoke with Delvey on Tuesday, moments after she DWTS The casting was announced.

She claimed it was her request to film DWTS “10 days to go through the system and get everything approved” at ICE — so much so that when that approval came in, “it was almost time to go, so I actually flew to LA the next day and just thought, ‘Why not?’”

When asked about the potential negative reactions to her controversial casting, Devley said, “It’s just not that serious. If someone is that upset about casting for a dance show, I don’t know what to say.”

Delvey will participate with her partner Ezra Sosa on condition that she continues to wear her ankle monitor. She said The Hollywood Reporter that her device would not hinder her ability to perform. “How would it affect my performance? It’s actually quite light,” she said.

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The view airs weekdays (11 a.m. ET) on ABC.