HarperCollins to Publish ‘Con Queen of Hollywood’ Book Based on Hollywood Reporter Article

Hollywood Sign and inset of Scott — Inset: Scott Johnson David McNew/Getty Images; Trevor Snapp

The “Con Queen of Hollywood” is getting the book treatment.

HarperCollins has secured the rights for The Con Queen of Hollywood: The Epic Hunt for the Impersonator Who Stole Identities, Money, and Desires from Hollywood Royalty and Dreamers Alike, written by former Hollywood Reporter staffer Scott Johnson and based on his July 2018 investigative feature cover story. (The story also included never-before-heard audio footage of the Con Queen in action).

The upcoming book has sold to Jennifer Barth at HarperCollins at auction in a global six-figure publishing deal handled by Will Lippincott at Aevitas Creative Management.

The Con Queen of Hollywood will chronicle the origins of the mysterious con artist who has targeted Hollywood producers, writers, photographers and security personnel. The scammer has impersonated some of the most powerful women in entertainment including Amy Pascal, Kathleen Kennedy, Stacey Snider and a Homeland director, as well as male executives including producers Geoff Johns, Jack Rapke and Richard Suckle. Victims also include high-profile figures from the finance, business and tech industries.

Despite the FBI and NYPD opening investigations — the FBI released a website for victims — the scammer continued to target people in Hollywood. Corporate security firm K2 Intelligence, which first uncovered the case and brought it to the attention of law enforcement, confirmed last year that the “Con Queen” is a man.

The upcoming book will take readers on the international hunt to bring the cryptic criminal mastermind to justice.

Johnson has also previously written The Wolf and the Watchman.