The Real Billy McFarland and Martin Shkreli Have Thoughts About Anna Delvey

One of the biggest mysteries behind Inventing Anna is which events in the show really happened, and which are fictional. The new Netflix series dives into the life of Anna Sorokin, a.k.a. Anna Delvey, who pretended to be a German heiress while swindling people and banks out of their money.

In episode 4, Anna lives with Billy McFarland, the con artist behind the notoriously disastrous Fyre Festival. One scene finds Anna living with Billy and laughing at his plans to craft the fake music festival. In another episode, Anna meets notorious con man Martin Shkreli at a dinner with her new, wealthy acquaintances. Martin shows off some (very) brand new music, causing some serious drama among the diners.

So… Did Anna really know Billy and Martin? Or were their connections as fake as their schemes? Here are all the details:

Yes, Anna and Billy did live together.

First, some background: While Billy is probably best known as the mind behind Fyre Festival, before that, he created a start-up credit card company called Magnises. Back in 2013, Anna lived in Magnises’ headquarters on Wooster Street in New York City for around four months, Page Six reported.

“Anna knew people on Billy’s team,” one insider said. “She just asked to stay for a few days … then she wouldn’t leave.” The loft was also a serious party spot. “She hung out and went to the parties,” the source continued. “She was there, just sitting there—all the time.”

But Anna wasn’t Billy’s favorite roommate. Apparently, he often “hinted” that he wanted her to leave. “He hinted, the staff hinted,” the insider shared. “She had Balenciaga bags and clothes everywhere. The company wound up moving into a townhouse. That’s the only way they got her out!” Yikes.

NICOLE RIVELLI/NETFLIX

She knew Martin, too.

Yep, this one’s true, too. Martin Shkreli was also known as “Pharma Bro” after he caused the price of a lifesaving anti-malaria medication (often used to treat H.I.V.) to skyrocket by 4,000% in 2015, per ABC News. And yes, he definitely knew Anna.

In the show, Martin causes a scene at dinner by flashing an advanced copy of Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter V. The entire incident really did happen, right down to the album preview. In a letter, Shkreli recalled that Anna called him her “dear friend,” even though the two had just met at dinner that evening, according to New York Magazine.

Anna was also close with one of Martin’s bosses, so he already had a vague idea of her. “Anna did seem to be a popular ‘woman about town’ who knew everyone,” he wrote in the letter. “Even though I was nationally known, I felt like a computer geek next to her.”

Drew AngererGetty Images

So, there you have it. Recently, Martin was ordered to repay $64 million in profits he made from raising drug prices, the BBC reported. Meanwhile, Billy is still in prison after serving six months in solitary confinement after sharing his story on the Dumpster Fyre podcast, per Insider.

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