The Briefing: Netflix Defamation Lawsuit About Inventing Anna – Not an Imposter The Briefing by the IP Law Blog

Update on Rachel Williams' defamation lawsuit against Netflix's "Inventing Anna." Weintraub lawyers Scott Hervey and Jamie Lincenberg discuss the recent court ruling as a warning for docudrama producers on "The Briefing." Get the full episode on the Weintraub YouTube channel here or listen to this podcast episode here.















Show Notes:

Scott

We have an update on the defamation lawsuit brought by Rachel Williams, the Vanity Fair photo editor whose friendship with Anna Delvey, who passed herself off as German heiress Anna Sorkin, was featured in the Netflix series Inventing Anna. The news is not great for Netflix, and this should be a warning for producers of docudramas who take creative license with facts. I'm Scott Hervey from Weintraub Tobin, and today, I'm joined by fellow Weintraub lawyer Jamie Lincenberg. We are going to review this lawsuit, the recent court ruling not allowing Netflix to get out from under William's defamation claim, and talk about how this should be a concern for producers of the genre du jour docudramas on today's installment of “The Briefing” by Weintraub Tobin. Jamie, welcome back to “The Briefing.”  

Jamie

Thanks for having me today, Scott.  

Scott

So, let's jump right into this. For those who may not remember, Rachel Williams is a real person. At the time of her portrayal in the Netflix program Inventing Anna, she was a Vanity Fair photo editor and a friend to Anna Delvey, also known as Anna Sorkin. Williams did not come across well in inventing Anna.  

Jamie

No, she didn't. She comes across as a privileged freeloader who sponges off of Sorkin and then abandons her when her real situation comes to life.  

Scott

True, true. She does come across that way. As a result, Williams sued for defamation. Now, in order to prevail, she would have to demonstrate that her portrayal in inventing Anna was an assertion of fact was actually false or created a false impression about her, that it was highly offensive to a reasonable person or was defamatory. Since Williams is a public figure, she published a story in Vanity Fair and published a book about her experience with Sorkin; she must also prove by clear and convincing evidence the statements were made with actual malice, meaning that the defendants knew that the statements were false or had serious doubts about the truth of the statement.  

Jamie

There are numerous instances of William's portrayal in this series, she claims to be actionable. We recently reran the podcast episode where you first reported on this lawsuit, where you covered all of the instances in detail. So, there's no need to do that here. Instead, let's look at the two portrayals addressed by the court in denying Netflix's motion to dismiss. Both of those have to do with the scene in Morocco where Williams leaves.  

Scott

That's right. The first portrayal comes after several scenes depicting the problems with the credit cards at the hotel and a very expensive private museum tour. Williams tells Anna, who is portrayed as being alone in her room, drinking and heavily depressed, that she is leaving. Sorkin is portrayed as begging Williams not to leave her, but Williams leaves anyways. Now, the next portrayal is the following statements that's made by another character in Inventing Anna. This character says, “Please, Rachel abandoned Anna, kicked her when she was down, and left her alone in some foreign country. Rachel's happy to call herself Anna's friend when it means free ‘stuff’ trips to Morocco. But as soon as times got tough, some friend.” actually, the character didn't say “tough” or “stuff,” she said some expletive that we won't use here on ...