Hollywood Con Queen is the latest docuseries to hit Apple TV+. The three-part documentary explores the shocking story behind one of Hollywood’s biggest scams.
The con artist dubbed the ‘Con Queen’ impersonates some of Hollywood’s most powerful women, luring unsuspecting victims deep into Southeast Asia. The mystery person does so by disguising their voice, using fake names, and making promises of life-changing opportunities. While simultaneously creating this fake opportunity, the Con Queen makes every attempt to exhaust the victims’ finances, squeezing every last affordable drop out of them with the promise of reimbursement.
As the scam continues for years on end, it eventually draws the attention of veteran investigative journalist Scott Johnson of The Hollywood Reporter and dedicated private investigator Nicole Kotsianas. They both set out to find the truth, through a series of interviews with victims and following clues to identify the mystery scam artist.
A handful of victims were able to contribute to the documentary, giving firsthand accounts of what happened. Although a variety of people were scammed, there was a commonality among the interviewees. The itineraries and instructions they were given were extremely detailed, all of their assignments involved traveling to Indonesia, and all of them mentioned the scammer getting belligerent at some point. For a handful of victims who eventually pushed back from repeated instructions to fly to Indonesia, the Con Queen was indignant at being the object of suspicion. The term “sociopath” was flung around many times.
For years, this con artist was getting away with people’s hard-earned money and using the identity of well-known women in Hollywood. The impersonated women were:
Gigi Pritzker – Producer, Philanthropist
Kathleen Kennedy – President, Lucasfilm
Donna Langley – Chairman, Universal Pictures
Wendi Murdoch – Entrepreneur, Art Collector
Amy Pascal – Former Co-Chair, Sony Pictures
Sherry Lansing – Former CEO, Paramount
Stacey Snider – CEO, 20th Century Fox
The documentary is a combination of audio, videos, Instagram content, and interviews. Emotions are invoked when hearing the blood-curdling accounts from the victims. Getting bilked out of your life savings, rent money, and other necessary funds is never a fun thing to experience. In some cases, family members were inadvertently involved in the matter which made things even worse.
The biggest draw and greatest intrigue came from the first episode. From there, the interest starts to go downhill and ultimately hits a low by the last episode. It’s wild how even though we’ve discovered the mystery person and even watch pursuit of their capture, the story dragged. The firsthand accounts by the film’s director were long and proved to be quite boring. I’ve been a longtime believer of those who are in the background (pulling the strings) should stay there. It can often times take away from the allure of what’s being presented.
In HBO’s The Sopranos, Artie Bucco was a civilian friend to Tony Soprano and was a chef. He made excellent food and everyone knew it, but whenever he left the kitchen to speak to customers, 95% of the time he overstayed his welcome. The same thing happened with the hit series The Chosen that loosely details the life of Jesus Christ. The episodic runtime might’ve read 55 minutes but the final 20 were going to be of the series creator Dallas Jenkins waxing idiotic about his thoughts, dishing “interesting tidbits” about the show, or asking for financial support. They eventually got the hint and stopped that, but these are good examples of how directors and creators don’t have to be front and center.
When Scott Johnson was being interviewed along with everyone else, it was fine. When the entire third episode “belonged” to him, it was absolutely dreadful. It’s understood that he put in a great deal of work to land the final blow and bring down the Con Queen, but how it was done and how it was presented felt very self-serving and well… Tacky.
Hollywood Con Queen gets a lethargic 6.5 out of 10. It gets less interesting with each episode and it’s unfortunately because of the director. Once the con artist is identified, they’re allowed way too much freedom and face time for my liking. And, I hate to say it, but the last episode felt like the Con Queen could’ve and should’ve been apprehended quicker. It really did look like they were allowing this person to stay free for more content for this documentary. This is one you can skip or save for a boring, rainy day.
Hollywood Con Queen is available on Apple TV+
-Jon Jones
Photos: Courtesy of Apple TV+
[…] I’ve seen in some time and this is taking into account that dreadful documentary about that Hollywood con artist (at least that wasn’t on Apple, the creator ruined it). Just when I thought things […]