‘True, apart from the made-up bits’: why people are lining up to sue over Netflix portrayals

Julia Garner, left, as fake heiress Anna Delvey/Sorokin in Inventing Anna, and Katie Lowes as Rachel DeLoache Williams, who is suing over her portrayal. Photograph: Nicole Rivelli/Netflix

A lot of fun can be had messing about with the familiar disclaimer that pops up on the screen before a television drama or film begins.

One impish recent line, displayed at the start of each episode of Inventing Anna, the Netflix show about Anna Sorokin (also known as Anna Delvey), the fake heiress, reads: “This whole story is completely true. Except for the parts that are completely made up.”