Anna Delvey Claps Back at Maks Chmerkovskiy’s Criticism of Her Dancing: ‘He Must Be Poor’

“Fake heiress” and Dancing With the Stars contestant Anna Delvey had a unique clap back at former show pro Maks Chmerkovskiy after he called her a “s–tty dancer.”

Maks, 44, was highly critical of the ex-con during a September 21 appearance on “The TMZ Podcast.” Anna’s close pal, publicist Kelly Cutrone, took a screengrab of the site’s story, to which Anna reposted in an Instagram Story on Monday, September 23, writing, “Who’s this Maksim person? Is he poor?”

During the podcast, the former Mirrorball champ discussed Anna’s DWTS debut on September 17, where she performed a cha cha with partner Ezra Sosa, earning the lowest scores of the night with 18 out of 30 points.

“She wasn’t great,” he said, adding that Anna, 33, appeared to be “kind of standoffish in a lot of things.”

Maks also didn’t think the Russia native having a case of the nerves was behind her performance.

“You can blame the nerves and say, ‘Hey, everybody’s human and this person is not used to that stage.’ Bulls–t” he continued. “Hold on a second — didn’t she con people into believing she was, like, fully fashion this and special like that? And that takes a lot of guts.”

“It takes a lot of self-control to present yourself a certain way, even if you’re so nervous,” Maks said. “I don’t buy this ‘she was nervous’ stuff. She’s a s–tty dancer, and [her] personality is not really going to help her in this competition.”

Maks was also critical of Anna’s casting on the show, which was announced on September 4.

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He accused Anna of being a “professional liar” and that he was “absolutely not” a fan.

“You’re gonna bring that person [on stage] and say, ‘Here’s a platform that a lot of people waited their entire actual career to be a part of,’ to also get a moment of a personal story [where they] can say, ‘This is who I actually am,’” he shared. “Will I believe anything this lady says? Absolutely not.”

Anna – real name Anna Sorokin – was convicted in 2019 of grand larceny after allegedly scamming New York banks and hotels to fund a lavish lifestyle while posing as a German heiress. She was sentenced to four to 12 years in prison but was sent to an immigration facility in 2021. After serving 18 months there, Anna was released on bail in 2022 amid her ongoing deportation proceedings. On DWTS, she’s wearing an ankle monitor, which was part of her house arrest conditions.

Anna’s story was loosely chronicled in the 2022 Netflix miniseries Inventing Anna, which starred Emmy winner Julia Garner in the title role.

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The controversial contestant’s partner Ezra, 23, said in a Monday, September 23, TikTok video that Anna was taking the backlash against her hard.

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While discussing their debut on DWTS, Ezra tearfully explained, “On my end, I was feeling so much positivity. On my partner’s end, she wasn’t receiving the same. I think the hardest part of my day after [the] press line, she was reading the comments, and we couldn’t find her. They finally found her in the bathroom. She was crying. I’ve never seen her like that, and it broke my heart.”

“As her partner, I wanted to give her the best experience she possibly could, and knowing that that’s not the case, it really did break my heart,” he added.

While saying that what Anna did legally “was really controversial and was not right,” Ezra said, “No one deserves the amount of hate that she’s getting right now. She deserves a second chance. She has stepped up to the plate, and I just cannot wait for y’all to see how much she has improved.”