Who Was The Hollywood Con Queen? Scott Johnson on the most unbelievable true story ever told

Jul 22, 2024

A deep dive into the Hollywood Con Queen scam where Scott Johnson reveals the true identity of the mastermind, a man named Harvey. The Con Queen impersonated famous female executives to trick victims, exploiting their dreams and aspirations for personal gain. Johnson's investigative journey, filled with twists and turns, culminates in a shocking revelation and a confrontation with the elusive scammer amidst the challenges of COVID-19.

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Intro

00:00 • 5min

Exploring a Journalist's Transition from War Reporting to Hollywood Scams

04:30 • 2min

Unraveling the Hollywood Con Queen Scam

06:53 • 25min

Hollywood Scam Exploiting Aspirations

31:42 • 6min

The Deceptive Persona and Scamming Exploits of the Hollywood Con Queen

37:18 • 11min

Exploring Efforts to Contact Harvey Amidst COVID-19 Challenges

47:51 • 4min

Following a Misleading Instagram Post and Navigating COVID Travel Restrictions to Meet Someone in Manchester

52:14 • 5min

Between 2013 and 2020, hundreds of people who worked in the entertainment industry—from actors and writers to photographers, makeup artists, and security personnel—were targeted by brilliant and bizarre scammer who came to be known as the Con Queen of Hollywood. The Con Queen impersonated famous female studio executives and convinced many of her marks to spend huge sums of money—often on trips to Indonesia—under the pretext of doing research for film projects that would be their big break.

Journalist Scott Johnson covered the case for The Hollywood Reporter, eventually reporting that the Con Queen was actually a man named Hargobind “Harvey” Tahilramani, a genius impersonator who was also trying to make it as an Instagram food influencer. Scott’s book about the case, The Con Queen of Hollywood: The Hunt for an Evil Genius, was published last year and a three-part documentary series based on his book premiered on Apple TV this past May. Scott joined me for a conversation about his years reporting the case and how he finally tracked Hargobind down in England in the early months of the Covid pandemic. He also talks about how reporting from wars and being the son of a CIA officer informed his reporting.

GUEST BIO

Scott C. Johnson is the author of two highly acclaimed books. The Wolf and the Watchman (W.W. Norton, 2013) was long-listed for the National Book Award, the PEN USA award and was named a Washington Post Notable Book. His second book, The Hollywood Con Queen (Harper, 2023) was given a starred review by Publisher’s Weekly and selected as an Amazon editor’s pick. Scott was a consulting producer of Hollywood Con Queen, a 3-part documentary series to air on Apple TV+ in the spring of 2024. He now lives in France with his wife and two children.

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