The ‘star’ of Netflix documentary The Tinder Swindler has denied he is a conman.
Simon Leviev, real name is Shimon Hayut, has broken his silence on the show which told the story of three women tricked out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
In his first interview since the documentary aired, Hayut accuses the show of being a “completely made-up movie”.
He makes the denial despite making references to his alleged actions in the series when creating Cameo videos for fans.
Hayut spoke to Inside Edition in an exclusive sit-down that will be aired in two parts, on 21 and 22 February.
In a clip released ahead of the interview, he says: “I was just a single guy, looking to meet some girls on Tinder… I am not a Tinder Swindler.”
A separate clip of the interview, published by Entertainment Weekly, shows Hayut with his unidentified “model girlfriend” seated next to him.
“I’m the biggest gentleman in the world and they call me the Tinder Swindler,” he adds. “I’m not a fraud and I’m not a fake, people don’t know me so they cannot judge me.”
Hayut has been charging between £146 to £1,460 to create videos for fans and businesses on Cameo, a video app where notable figures charge for personalised video messages.
Under the username Simon Leviev, Hayut made references to scams in birthday or Valentine’s Day messages.
In one video, he said: “Jessica, Charlie is running away because his enemies [are] after him, so if you can send him some cash. I wish you a great and magnificent day and happy Valentine’s Day.”
Following the release of the documentary, Hayut issued a statement on his Instagram page that said: “I will share my side of the story in the next few days when I have sorted out the best and most respectful way to tell it, both to the involved parties and myself.”
He later deleted his account, but returned with a new Instagram page shortly after, which he used to criticise a GoFundMe page set up by his victims - Cecilie Fjellhøy, Pernilla Sjöholm, and Ayleen Charlotte – to recuperate their losses and repay their debts.
