Simon Leviev says he is ‘not the Tinder swindler’ in first interview since Netflix series aired

He's labelled the documentary a 'completely made-up movie'

The focus of the hit Netflix documentary The Tinder Swindler has denied that he is the conman at the centre of the series. In his first interview since the documentary was released on the streaming platform, Simon Leviev, real name Shimon Hayut, has denied his involvement in conning three women out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. In the sit-down interview with Inside Edition, Hayut says the show is a "completely made-up movie." The interview will be aired in two parts on February 21 and 22. In a teaser 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.” This is despite the fact that he often makes references to the allegations against him in the series when he makes Cameo videos, for which he charges between £146 and £1,460. In another clip from Entertainment Weekly, Hayut says: "I’m the biggest gentleman in the world and they call me the Tinder Swindler. “I’m not a fraud and I’m not a fake, people don’t know me so they cannot judge me.” 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.” After this statement, he deleted his account (although he claims it was hacked), before swiftly setting up a new one. On this new account, he criticised a GoFundMe page set up by his victims in the series. Cecilie Fjellhøy, Pernilla Sjöholm, and Ayleen Charlotte set up the page to recuperate their losses from the scam. Hayut described them as "manipulators." Related links:

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