Anna Delvey said she is “appalled” that the rabbits used in a photoshoot with her were abandoned in a local park in New York.
After it was reported that three rabbits were dumped in Prospect Park, eagle-eyed social media users figured out the rabbits were the same ones used in a photoshoot with Delvey.
Delvey addressed the situation on Instagram Tuesday, explaining that the hairstylist for the photoshoot, Christian Batty, said he had a friend he could borrow the rabbits from. She later learned that was not the case, and Batty instead got the rabbits from someone off Facebook Marketplace looking to surrender them. Delvey said she didn’t learn that the rabbits had been dumped until Sunday.
“The idea that someone would compromise the well-being of innocent animals for personal networking opportunities is deeply disturbing to me,” Delvey wrote.
Delvey also shared screenshots of texts with Batty, where he admitted to dumping the rabbits.
Batty has since deleted all of his social media, but according to People, in a now-deleted Facebook post, Batty wrote a statement apologizing.
“I need to be completely honest. I lied to you, Anna, and the rest of Anna’s team about the rabbits. The truth is, I did abandon them in the park. It was wrong, cruel, and inexcusable, and I take full responsibility for my actions,” the post read.
He continued, “When I realized the rabbits were being surrendered to me, I panicked. At 19, with no experience caring for animals, no pet-friendly housing, and no knowledge of available resources, I felt overwhelmed and made the worst possible choice. Believing, mistakenly, that there were existing rabbits in that area, I released them there, thinking that was my best option. That belief was wrong, and I regret it deeply.”
Amidst the situation, Delvey said she’s been receiving death threats and “vile, harassing messages” on social media.
“Despite sharing an abundance of exonerating evidence, nothing seems to satisfy the self-righteous mob determined to churn hate in my comments and DMs,” she said.
She concluded her Instagram post noting she donated $1,000 to All About Rabbits Rescue.
Reps for both Delvey and Batty did not respond to a request for comment.
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‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.celebrity.land ’
