The Leipzig hotel employee falsely accused of antisemitism by Gil Ofarim in 2021 has spoken publicly for the first time. In an interview with „Die Zeit“, he criticizes Ofarim's Jungle Camp appearance and describes severe burdens from hate messages and death threats. Ofarim won the RTL show on Sunday.
In 2021, musician Gil Ofarim made headlines with an Instagram video claiming a Leipzig hotel employee forced him to remove his Star of David and made antisemitic remarks. The accusations proved false: Video footage and witness statements cleared the employee. In a defamation trial, Ofarim retracted his claims, and proceedings were dropped.
Following Ofarim's win in the RTL show „I'm a Celebrity – Get Me Out of Here!“ on Sunday, the affected employee speaks out for the first time in an interview with „Die Zeit“. „He portrays himself as a victim, even though I am the one, and that's hard for me“, said the employee, whose name was not fully disclosed. He refers to Ofarim's Jungle Camp statements questioning the credibility of the hotel camera footage. „It leaves me stunned. Neither the court nor the video expert doubted the credibility of the recordings – nor did the witness statements“, the staff member countered.
After the accusations, the employee filed a defamation charge. He faced massive online harassment: „My social media accounts were flooded, I was bombarded to an extent one can't imagine.“ He received a death threat via his work email. His then-boss arranged protection: „15 minutes later, a limousine picked me up. It was like in a movie."
Ofarim, son of the late 1960s star Abi Ofarim who died in 2018, addressed a fresh start at a press conference after his victory: „I ask for understanding that I wish for nothing more than for a new beginning to simply start for everyone at some point.“ He had nearly five years to process the events.
