‘Inventing Anna’ Subject Sues Netflix for Defamation, Alleges Streamer Made Her Character “Greedy” and “Snobbish”

A real-life subject in Netflix‘s mostly-true swindler series, Inventing Anna, is suing the Shonda Rhimes show for defamation, alleging they took a few too many creative liberties with her character. Rachel Williams, a former Vanity Fair photo editor who befriended — and was duped by — Anna Sorokin, filed a lawsuit against the streamer in Delaware federal court Monday, Deadline reports.

Williams is claiming in her lawsuit that Netflix caused damage to her reputation by adding fake details to her character, who is played by Katie Lowes. She alleges that Netflix “made a deliberate decision for dramatic purposes” to make her character a “greedy, snobbish, disloyal, dishonest, cowardly, manipulative and opportunistic person,” per Deadline.

She’s asking for Netflix to edit out any defamatory content linked to her character in Inventing Anna, but is also asking for “unspecified damages” and a jury trial, according to Deadline. Williams claims the Netflix series has caused “extraordinary” harm to her reputation because so many people have seen it.

“[A]s a result of Netflix’s false portrayal of her as a despicable person, she has been subjected to a torrent of online abuse which have caused her personal humiliation, distress, and anguish, as well as damages to her earnings and/or potential earnings,” her lawsuit states.

Williams’ real name is used in Inventing Anna, while other real characters have had their names changed in the show. She specifically calls out Netflix for failing to conceal her identity, and claims that Netflix retaliated against her after she sold the rights to her story to their competitor, HBO.

“Given the easy alternative of protecting her by using a fictional name, the decision to use her real name evidences Netflix’s intent to harm her reputation, thereby justifying the imposition of punitive damages, especially if Netflix made that decision because Williams had sold her rights to the rival Sorokin project being developed by HBO,” the lawsuit states, per Deadline.

Williams is going after Netflix months after Inventing Anna premiered on the streamer in February. The show stars Julia Garner as Sorokin, a woman posing as a Russian heiress who conned New York City’s rich and famous with her tall tales.

Inventing Anna is now streaming on Netflix.