Celebrity conwoman Anna “Delvey” Sorokin fired back at critics accusing her of abandoning in a New York City park the rabbits she appeared with in a photoshoot at a New York City park, and claims she’s received death threats over the allegations.

The backlash was swift after rabbits were found earlier this week in and around Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, just days after Sorokin posed for photos with them in Manhattan’s glamorous Tribeca neighborhood. The images, later shared online, show the “Dancing with the Stars” alum — who was found guilty in 2019 of multiple fraud charges after posing as a German heiress — gallivanting around the city with the critters at her side on leashes.

The rabbits were later recaptured in the park by vegan influencer and blogger Terry Chao. According to an Instagram post, Chao said she and a neighbor were able to quickly catch the first rabbit, and then worked together to catch the other two, which took days. Shortly after Chao shared her story online, Sorokin said her direct messages became flooded with threats.

“As you know, I recently did a shoot with Jasper Soloff involving live rabbits,” Sorokin wrote on Instagram Tuesday. “Christian Batty, a hair team member I briefly met during a fashion week event last year, claimed he had a friend who could lend us bunnies for a few hours.”

The New York City socialite added she was “appalled by what transpired next,” emphasizing that “as talent” it is not her job “to source or return the animals. But as an animal lover, I can promise I will never work with them again without knowing exactly where they came from and how they’re getting home.”

Sorokin said she has also donated $1,000 to the rescuer’s chosen charity, All About Rabbits Rescue.

Batty, a 19-year-old celebrity hairstylist, in a since-deleted social media post admitted to dumping the rabbits, absolving Sorokin of wrongdoing. He said he believed he was going to be borrowing the rabbits, only to later find out they were being surrendered to him.

“At 19, with no experience caring for animals, no pet-friendly housing, and no knowledge of available resources, I felt overwhelmed and made the worst possible choice,” he wrote.

“Believing, mistakenly, that there were existing rabbits in that area, I released them there, thinking that was my best option.”

https://www.nydailynews.com/2025/08/13/anna-sorokin-rabbits-new-york-city-park/