Anna Delvey broke her silence after being accused of dumping rabbits in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park after utilizing them in a photograph shoot.
Delvey, 34, posed in New York Metropolis for a photograph shoot earlier this month the place she was holding two rabbits on a leash. The snaps have been taken by photographer Jasper Soloff earlier than a social media consumer later claimed the animals featured in the images have been just like rabbits that have been discovered deserted in Prospect Park.
After receiving backlash, Delvey took to Instagram on Monday, August 11, to clarify how her assistant Christian Batty initially informed her he knew somebody who “may lend us bunnies for a number of hours.”
Delvey didn’t ask the place Batty acquired a number of rabbits till the scandal.
“I later found that, as a substitute of borrowing animals from a reputable supply like he claimed, he had obtained them by way of Fb Market and supposed to launch them into Prospect Park,” Delvey wrote by way of her Instagram Story. “[That was] a plan of which I had no information. The concept that somebody would compromise the well-being of harmless animals for private networking alternatives is deeply disturbing to me.”
As “an animal lover,” Delvey was “appalled by what transpired.” Delvey famous she wouldn’t be working with animals in future picture shoots.
“I don’t eat meat, and I had no involvement in the acquisition, transport, or return of those animals,” she added. “I’d by no means condone these actions.”
Delvey included alleged screenshots of texts between her assistant and the photographer. Batty publicly addressed the drama by issuing an apology for dumping the bunnies.
“Once I realized the rabbits have been being surrendered to me, I panicked,” Batty wrote by way of Instagram Story on Sunday, August 10, in keeping with The New York Submit. “At 19, with no expertise caring for animals … and no information of obtainable sources, I felt overwhelmed and made the worst potential selection.”
Batty concluded: “Believing, mistakenly, that there have been current rabbits in that space, I launched them [in Prospect Park], pondering that was my best choice. That perception was mistaken, and I remorse it deeply.”
Soloff, in the meantime, issued a press release by his authorized crew, which learn, “This was not Jasper’s picture shoot. Jasper had no information or enter as to how the bunnies have been obtained or what occurred to them after the picture shoot.”
The photographer’s legal professional referred to Soloff as “an enormous animal lover” who has taken care of “birds, cats, canine, parakeets, iguanas and has a stunning canine named Tinkerbell.” The three rabbits used in the picture shoot at the moment are in foster care with animal rescuer Terry Chao, whereas Delvey posted by way of Instagram that she had donated $1,000 to All About Rabbits Rescue.
Delvey beforehand made headlines after she was arrested in 2018. Delvey served two years in jail after being convicted on costs of grand larceny, second-degree larceny and theft of providers. After paying $10,000 bail, Delvey was launched in 2022 and positioned on home arrest.
