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(THREAD)This is the story of how TV icon Larry King got paid to fake a 2019 interview with a Russian journalist — and ended up ensnared in an international disinformation scheme. In the twilight of his career, he became an unwitting mouthpiece for Chinese propaganda.
2/ Jacobi Niv had previously paid Larry King to narrate half a dozen videos for companies or projects in Israel, where King is still a big name. But what Niv wanted King to tape on March 27, 2019, wasn’t the usual infomercial. It was more like a disinfomercial.
3/ Niv, an Israeli with a history of failed businesses and inflated credentials, wanted @kingsthings to tape questions for Russian journalist Anastasia Dolgova at the @OraTV studio where King recorded his shows.
4/ But Dolgova would not be answering King’s questions — which involved China, a topic Niv’s videos with King had not covered before — live on camera. Instead, her responses would be plugged in separately.
5/ King's producer, Jason Rovou, was disturbed by the idea of lending the set — and his boss’s reputation — to a potentially controversial video that Ora couldn’t control. He confronted Niv, and also implored King not to do the video. King went ahead anyway.
6/ Niv’s contact was Itai Rapoport, who runs a production company in Israel that has made China-related videos. Rapoport won’t say who hired him.
7/ Posted on YouTube under the title “Larry King US China Special Conference 2019,” and quickly spread by social media accounts linked to Chinese government influence operations, the fake interview went viral across Chinese-language social media.
8/ The topic is Guo Wengui, a wealthy Chinese dissident who now lives in Manhattan. Chinese authorities say Guo committed rape and kidnapping in China and want him deported from the U.S. In the video, Dolgova echoes China’s position and denounces Guo.
9/ Why was a Russian journalist repeating China’s position? Maybe because China and Russia increasingly cooperate on media, and using a foreign journalist gave the allegations against Guo (which he denies) more credibility.
10/ Lawyer @SandersonMatt, an expert on the Foreign Agents Registration Act, says it’s “likely” that Niv — and maybe King himself — should have registered as foreign agents on behalf of China.
11/ In an interview with @ProPublica, King expressed remorse and bewilderment. He said he is not familiar with Guo and hasn’t watched the video. “To me, it was just a small favor for a guy who I like,” he said of Niv. “I have no idea what it was for.”
12/ Niv thought at first that the video was nothing unusual. But he says he became alarmed as it kept popping up on social media despite efforts to remove it.
13/ Read the full story by @renee_dudley and @jeffykao here: https://www.propublica.org/article/the-disinfomercial-how-larry-king-got-duped-into-starring-in-chinese-propaganda
14/ To stay updated on all our top investigations, sign up for the Big Story newsletter: https://www.propublica.org/newsletters/the-big-story
