Whoopi Goldberg Slams Con Artist Anna Sorokin’s Casting On ‘Dancing With The Stars’

Whoopi Goldberg doesn’t quite understand why Anna Sorokin, the con artist who in 2019 was convicted of swindling hotels, banks and individuals, was cast as a contestant on the forthcoming season of ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars.”

During a Thursday segment on “The View” — which is also broadcast on the ABC network — Goldberg kicked off the conversation about Sorokin and the dance competition show, saying the casting choice made her think of “all the families who’ve had family members arrested by ICE [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement].”

Sorokin, a German citizen who for years pretended to be a wealthy heiress named Anna Delvey, was released from U.S. prison in 2021. She was detained for overstaying her visa shortly afterward, and then spent more than a year in ICE custody. She has recently been under house arrest in New York while fighting her deportation case.

“This woman, they gave her permission to go do this,” Goldberg said of Sorokin’s participation on the dancing show.

Sorokin told multiple media outlets this week that ICE approved her request to take part in the reality program, which is filmed in the Los Angeles area.

Juda Engelmayer, a spokesperson for Sorokin, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that she could travel within 70 miles of her home base and anywhere in the boroughs of New York City under previous conditions of her house arrest. The spokesperson could not comment on any changes to those conditions, the AP reported.

A representative for ICE did not immediately return HuffPost’s request for comment.

Some of Goldberg’s co-hosts on “The View” agreed with her grievances about Sorokin’s casting.

“I like a come-up, but when are there consequences to people’s actions in this country?” panelist Sunny Hostin said.

“I’m here for a redemption arc, not a rehabilitation arc,” added Alyssa Farah Griffin, another co-host.

Goldberg weighed in on the topic again later in the segment, juxtaposing Sorokin’s casting with discussions about crossings at the U.S. border. “I’m listening to people bitch about what’s going on at the border, and I listen to people bitch about all these people who shouldn’t be here — well, what the hell, man?” Goldberg said.

A promo photo for “Dancing With the Stars” featured Sorokin wearing a court-ordered ankle monitor, sparking reactions from social media users when the picture was released this week.

She discussed her reasons for joining the dance competition show during a Wednesday interview with The Hollywood Reporter.

“I kind of [was] … talked into doing this. And I got the permission from ICE, and then it was, like, kind of too late to back out,” she said with a laugh.