Whoopi Goldberg criticizes “DWTS” casting of con artist Anna Delvey

It is safe to say that Whoopi Goldberg and her fellow panelists at ABC’s The view will not cheer Dancing with the stars‘ contestant and fake heiress Anna Delvey this season.

On tonight’s episode of the daytime talk show, Goldberg, Sunny Hostin and Alyssa Farah Griffin criticized the convicted con artist’s participation in the upcoming season of the dance competition (also an ABC show).

After showing a short clip in which Delvey and her pro partner Ezra Sosa joked about jeweling the ankle bracelet that Delvey has to wear, she said that she had permission from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to DWTS – said a stern Goldberg: “I think back to all the families whose family members were arrested by ICE, who went to court to get their father or their brother or their mother back, and this woman got permission to do that?” Goldberg added: “Is there a two-tier system at ICE?”

Delvey was convicted of theft and other crimes in a New York state court in 2019 after posing as a German heiress and swindling thousands of dollars from various people and entities. After spending two years in prison, she was released on parole, only to be taken into custody by ICE for overstaying her visa. She appealed, and last year was ordered to wear an ankle monitor while on house arrest in her Manhattan apartment.

In the clip with Sosa, Delvey said of the competition: “What’s the worst that can happen? They’re going to arrest me for dancing badly?”

Hostin said today: “When you think about it, she defrauded so many people and then spent about two years in prison and then had to spend another 18 months in prison for overstaying her permit and visa. So she committed another crime and what is the consequence of that? A jewelled ankle bracelet and an appearance on a television show.”

Hostin compared Delvey’s DWTS From casting to Gypsy-Rose Blanchard, who became a reality TV star after being released from prison for the second-degree murder of her mother Dee Dee Blanchard.

Griffin took issue with the comparison.

“I’m here to redeem myself, not to redeem myself,” Griffin said, adding that Blanchard, like Martha Stewart before her, took responsibility before re-entering the public eye. “Gypsy-Rose has served her time,” she said, adding that Delvey “still owes people money.”

“Scammers usually remain scammers,” Griffin said, advising DWTS Fellow actors: “Be careful.”

When Joy Behar joked that Delvey seems to be getting her second chance “because she’s pretty,” Goldberg said, “Well, that’s a little sour. I like pretty people too, but I have to say, I listen to people complaining about what’s happening at the border, and I listen to people complaining about all these people who shouldn’t be here? So what the hell, man? How does that work?”

“We have to support the network,” Goldberg said. “I understand all that, but this is a Pooh in the face of people trying to find their way back.”