A producer sued Amazon Studios, Vice Studios and director Rebecca Chaiklin on Thursday, alleging that he was falsely portrayed as an accomplice of convicted fraudster Zach Horwitz in the recent documentary series “Hollywood Hustler: Glitz, Glam, Scam.”
The producer, Julio Hallivis, contends that his reputation has been ruined by the false implication that he acted as an informant and was complicit in Horwitz’s crimes.
Horwitz is serving a 20-year sentence over what federal prosecutors described as a $650 million Ponzi scheme. He pleaded guilty to allegations that he forged contracts with Netflix and HBO to dupe some 250 investors.
Hallivis was his business partner in 1inMM Productions, which produced a few films. According to the lawsuit, Hallivis was not involved in financing and knew nothing about the Ponzi scheme until Horwitz was arrested.
The lawsuit alleges that the three-episode docuseries, which was presented by Amazon MGM Studios and produced by Library Films, Vice Studios and Article 19 Films, repeatedly suggests that Hallivis was involved in the fraud.
“As a result of defendants’ desire to sensationalize the series and boost viewer numbers, Hallivis’ reputation and career have been destroyed, causing him great personal suffering and loss of earnings,” the suit states.
Hallivis declined to be interviewed for “Hollywood Hustler: Glitz, Glam, Scam,” which premiered Oct. 17 on Prime Video. The complaint argues that he is a private figure, which sets a lower bar to prove defamation.
The documentary includes an interview with Alex Loftus, a civil attorney, who was quoted saying that Horwitz “couldn’t do this alone.”
“I believe that he’s protecting someone in his inner circle,” Loftus said.
The documentary shows photos of Horwitz and Hallivis together, and includes commentary that Hallivis was “intense,” and “on edge.”
An interviewee is quoted as saying that Hallivis was paranoid and “just seemed like he saw something coming, I think, down the pipe.”
The lawsuit states that the scene is defamatory “because it implies that Hallivis was assisting Horwitz in his criminal activities and as a result, he was nervous, sad, and paranoid, and he feared that it was only a matter of time before he was going to be caught.”
The final episode also includes a suggestion that Hallivis and his brother, Diego, became informants to help the government’s case against Horwitz, implying that they needed to cooperate to minimize their criminal exposure.
In fact, the complaint states, Hallivis was interviewed a single time by the FBI and the Securities and Exchange Commission, and was never told that he was suspected of wrongdoing.
The episode also includes a quote from Loftus, who filed suit on behalf of some of the investors: “If Julio was spending all day and all night with Zach Horwitz for months at a time I don’t see how he would possibly not know that this was a fantasy.”
Loftus also said that he did not have facts to show that Hallivis was a fraudster, but “we have some things you could assume that look pretty bad.”
“These statements suggest that Hallivis was a fraudster, even if Loftus had no conclusive proof,” the complaint states.
According to the suit, Hallivis has been shunned by former business associates, and even his own brother has told him that they cannot work together due to the reputational damage.
Hallivis is represented by Alexander Rufus-Isaacs, an attorney who has filed several suits against Netflix on behalf of people who alleged they were defamed in various shows.