Artist Claims She Hasn't Been Paid Thousands She Fronted For Anna Sorokin Art Show

An artist who recently co-curated an art show for and about notorious fraudster Anna Sorokin claims that she is owed thousands for the event.

Julia Morrison, a Los Angeles-based artist, told the New York Post that Sorokin blocked her text messages after she reached out to her for money she says she is owed. 

Morrison told the outlet that she “put around $8,000 on my credit card to cover the costs of framing, printing, scanning, transportation, making T-shirts, etc.”

The show, which Morrison co-curated with convicted fraudster Alfredo Martinez, was entitled “Free Anna Delvey” — referencing Sorokin’s preferred name and the one she used while posing as a German heiress — and featured drawings and art by different artists who have been inspired by Sorokin’s story, the New York Times reported. The show also supposedly included five of Sorokin’s own 22x30 inch pencil and acrylic drawings, made during her time in detention.

However, as the Times pointed out, the drawings were actually sanctioned reproductions made on large-print watercolor paper by Morrison's co-curator Martinez, who knows Sorokin.

Martinez was incarcerated in the early 2000s for mail and wire fraud for forging Jean-Michel Basquiat paintings.

Morrison told the Post that Martinez (and not Sorokin) had promised to pay her back for the money she spent on the show, but admits the two had no written agreement.

“I still have $8,000 on my credit card,” she said. “I can’t afford to just throw $8,000 worth of Anna Delvey’s expenses on my card. I wasn’t doing it to be a good friend to her. I did it for the show, knowing that I’d be paid back. At least that’s what Alfredo promised.”

Martinez told the Post that Morrison “will get paid.” 

“We are still in the spending money phase of the project,” he said.

Morrison also contacted art dealer Chris Martine, who represents Sorokin and Martinez, for reimbursement. He ignored her and told the Post he doesn't owe her money.

A spokesperson for Sorokin confirmed to the Post that Morrison had asked Sorokin for the money, after which the fake heiress blocked her.

“[Anna] most definitely did not promise Julia any money … After [Morrison] could not get any more from Chris or Alfredo, she went to Anna and essentially said she would tell the press if Anna did not pay,” the spokesperson said. “That is extortion, and not even remotely justified.”

In a text message provided to the Post, Sorokin responded once to Morrison, writing, "This is the first I’m hearing of this."

Morrison is known for minting NFTs of sexually-themed social media messages she claims the actor Armie Hammer sent her in 2020, as The Daily Beast reported. (Hammer was accused of raping a different woman last year, but has denied the allegations.)

Sorokin, a 31-year-old Russian-born German national, was convicted in 2019 of eight charges, including grand larceny and theft, after masquerading as an heiress between 2013 and 2017.

Sorokin solicited $275,000 from friends, banks and businesses for what she has always maintained was a legitimate business plan for her project, the Anna Delvey Foundation. Her lawyer has stated that she was merely trying to "fake it til she made it" in the difficult career waters of New York City. Her story is the basis for the Netflix hit series “Inventing Anna.”

Sorokin was released from prison last February but was detained six weeks later by ICE for overstaying her visa. She, along with other detainees, filed a class-action lawsuit against ICE earlier this year for allegedly neglecting to protect her from COVID-19.

Sorokin currently faces deportation to Germany for overstaying her visa.