‘Inventing Anna’: Real Neff Davis Reveals ‘Positive and Negative’ Impacts of Series
Inventing Anna is a fictional Netflix series based on real people, including Anna Sorokin (better known as Anna Delvey) and Neffatari “Neff” Davis. The real-life Neff, a hotel concierge turned Los Angeles filmmaker, recently spoke out about the ways the Shonda Rhimes series has impacted her life, good and bad. Here’s how Neff’s life has changed since Inventing Anna.
‘Inventing Anna’ makes it hard for viewers to separate the fictional Neff from the real one
Inventing Anna is based on Jessica Pressler‘s New York Magazine article “How Anna Delvey Tricked New York’s Party People.” When the piece came out in 2018, most people’s reactions came out on Twitter. But with the release of the Netflix series, reactions are more popular on TikTok and Instagram.
“So many people started following me,” Davis told Vulture. “Of course, I got negative and positive messages — it was tough the first few days.” The filmmaker recognizes why so many have strong reactions, though. “Because the writing is so well-done, people aren’t able to separate the real Neff from the Neff in the show,” she said.
When it comes to positive feedback, fans of the Netflix series have told Davis they “need a friend like Neff” or they’re going to name their daughter Neffatari. “A lot of people have been hitting me up saying they’re inspired because they also work a job and also have a dream,” added Davis, who aspired to work in show business when she met Delvey.
But with all of the positive feedback also comes some negative. “The unfortunate part is a lot of racist comments and people who don’t understand the dynamics between me being a Black woman and Anna being a white woman,” Davis described. “They were feeling like, especially during Black History Month, my character was just someone who kissed Anna’s ass too much. They mistook my loyalty for something else.”
‘Inventing Anna’ didn’t ‘do Neffatari Davis dirty’
Davis fielded a lot of comments regarding race and her friendship with Delvey. So, she took to Instagram to address the loyalty she showed Delvey.
“I’ve been getting this a lot and I just want to make it clear one time,” she wrote on Feb. 22. “Inventing Anna didn’t do me ‘dirty.’ It’s a show — not my biography.”
Davis also reminded everyone how the “Anna s***” happened in 2017″ and detailed all the positive ways the Netflix series has impacted her life. “I’m blessed to be tanning on a Tuesday living in LA eating lobster pizza from Berri’s,” she added. “That’s because of Inventing Anna and Shonda. They not only gave me my first film credit on the biggest digital platform ever; they made sure I was paid a nice coin.”
She asked that everyone not “slander” the Netflix series and concluded: “So don’t cry for me or worry about how s*** made me look. I’m happy. Healthy. Writing scripts.”
Neff Davis ‘never saw the bad side’ of Anna Delvey
Davis understands where those people’s reactions were coming from. “As a Black woman, I know we are pitted against Caucasian women a lot of times,” Davis said in her post. “But at the end of the day, my loyalty with Anna wasn’t because of her skin color — I called her out on several things she said.”
Still, Davis said she befriended Delvey because of the way she treated her. “I never saw the bad side of Anna. I never got scammed by her. She never didn’t pay me back.” At publication, she and Delvey remain friends.
Watch Inventing Anna on Netflix.
