In the RTL show 'I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!', singer Gil Ofarim unexpectedly addressed the 2021 Davidstern incident. He questions the authenticity of the hotel surveillance videos from Leipzig and mentions a witness. His critic Ariel was eliminated from the competition.
Gil Ofarim, the 43-year-old singer and son of the late 2018 star Abi Ofarim, unexpectedly spoke about the so-called Davidstern scandal in the latest episode of the Dschungelcamp. The incident occurred in 2021 at a hotel in Leipzig, where Ofarim accused an employee of refusing to let him check in because of his Star of David. He posted a video on Instagram and filed a complaint for antisemitism. The hotel employee countersued for defamation.
A digital forensics expert analyzed seven surveillance videos and concluded that the Star of David was not visible. In August 2024, Ofarim confessed in court: "The accusations are true. I'm sorry." The proceedings were dropped, and Ofarim paid 10,000 euros. The court stated that all doubts had been eliminated.
In a conversation with fellow camper Simone Ballack by the campfire, Ofarim now expressed doubts: "It has been proven that the tape is not the original. It has been proven that several seconds are missing from all camera recordings." He mentioned a witness who saw the Star of David and claimed the video used by the forensics expert was not original. How he arrived at these conclusions remained unclear.
Previously, Ofarim had ignored questions from his fellow campers, especially from the 22-year-old reality star Ariel from Basel. His participation in the format had sparked controversy beforehand. Ofarim's lawyer Alexander Stevens and judge Thorsten Schleif advised silence in an Instagram Live due to a non-disclosure agreement.
At the end of the episode, Ariel was eliminated for receiving too few viewer votes. Remaining are Ofarim, Simone Ballack, Samira Yavuz, Hubert Fella, and Patrick Romer. The show concludes on Sunday in Murwillumbah, Australia.