The nine-part series starred Ozark’s Julia Garner as the fake German heiress Anna Delvey (real name: Anna Sorokin).

From 2013 to 2017, under the name Anna Delvey, Sorokin posed as a German heiress and socialite with a $60 million trust fund and managed to scam the upper elites of New York City, her friends, strangers, banks, and more out of thousands of dollars.

She was found guilty of eight counts of fraud, including grand larceny, attempted grand larceny, and theft of services in May 2019. She was released from prison in February 2021.

Inventing Anna did not come without its controversy, but now Rachel DeLoache Williams, one of Delvey’s real-life victims, is suing Netflix for defamation.

Williams was one of the real people depicted in the series and was portrayed by Katie Lowes.

In official court documents obtained by the BBC, Williams claims the series showed her as a “greedy, snobbish, disloyal, dishonest, cowardly, manipulative and opportunistic person.”

As a result, Williams claims it caused her devastating damage and that she received thousands of abusive messages.

The filing continued: “As a result of Netflix’s false portrayal of her as a vile and contemptible person, Williams was subjected to a torrent of online abuse, negative in-person interactions, and pejorative characterizations in podcasts, etc.

“She does not challenge Netflix’s right to have an unpleasant character in the Series, but if it chose to base the character on herself, and to portray the character negatively, it should have given the character a fictious [sic] name and changed the character’s identifying details so that no one would believe that the character was a portrayal ‘of and concerning’ the real Rachel Williams.

“Netflix gave fictional names to many of the real life protagonists in the Sorokin saga who appear in the Series, but it did not afford Williams the same protection. Instead, it used her real name and personal details (such as her employer, neighborhood and alma mater) in the Series and cast an actress who resembled her in many ways.”

The lawsuit also takes issue with scenes in the series such as claims that she was “sponging off” Delvey, by “accepting gifts of expensive clothes, jewelry, and accessories” and “allowing her to pay for all of their drinks, meals, manicures, and saunas.”

Another moment in the show that Williams disputed is the scene where Williams leaves Delvey alone in Morocco and the implication she had lied to friends about helping with Delvey’s arrest.

“In reality, she never did or said those things,” the lawsuit reads. “Thus, this action is based firmly on statements of fact which are demonstrably false and the attribution of statements that she never made.”

As seen in the series, Williams, a former Vanity Fair photo editor, became good friends with Sorokin in 2016. However, their relationship turned seriously sour when Williams was hit with a $62,000 bill for a trip they took to Morocco and she was forced to pay it on her company credit card, under the belief that Delvey would reimburse her.

However, she received only $5,000 from Delvey, putting Williams in a dire financial situation.

Taking matters into her own hands, Williams reached out to the police. After weeks of not being heard, she found herself a key player in a sting operation to have Delvey arrested outside a rehab center in Los Angeles and returned to New York. There, Delvey faced charges of:

Two counts of attempted grand larceny in the first degree;Three counts of grand larceny in the second degree;One count of grand larceny in the third degree;One count of misdemeanor theft of services in relation to fraudulent loan applications made to City National and Fortress, check fraud, the cost of the trip to Morocco, and unpaid hotel and restaurant bills.

At Delvey’s trial in 2019, Williams gave emotional testimony. She also told her side of the story in her book, My Friend Anna: The True Story of a Fake Heiress, as part of a $300,000 book deal with Simon & Schuster.

Delvey was found guilty of multiple counts of attempted grand larceny, larceny in the second degree, and theft of services in 2019. However, on the charges relating to Williams (one of larceny in the second degree) alongside one of attempted grand larceny, Delvey was found not guilty.

Williams has been vocal about her criticism of the Netflix series in the past.

In an essay for Time, she took issue with being described in the Netflix series as “a natural-born follower whose blind worship of Anna almost destroys her job, her credit, and her life.”

She added: “This Netflix description felt shocking. [It] stripped me of my agency, accomplishments, and truth. Were we meant to believe that the woman I had become was not on account of the parents who raised me, the love I shared with family and friends, my own efforts or personal growth, but because of Anna?”

In a previous piece for Air Mail, Williams accused Netflix of “effectively running a con woman’s PR.”

Newsweek has contacted Williams and Delvey for comment.

Inventing Anna is streaming on Netflix now.