{"id":84737,"date":"2025-09-25T12:13:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-25T12:13:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/84737\/"},"modified":"2025-09-25T12:13:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T12:13:10","slug":"marco-robinson-grifted-writers-by-claiming-to-be-a-netflix-producer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/84737\/","title":{"rendered":"Marco Robinson Grifted Writers By Claiming To Be A Netflix Producer"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tFrom homeless child to career sales of $2B, Marco Robinson<\/a>\u2018s website trumpets a remarkable rags-to-riches journey. Beaming out at visitors in his black-rimmed glasses, he claims to have channeled childhood trauma into a comeback that has helped thousands of people \u201ctransform their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe self-styled business guru imparts wisdom to his 290,000 Instagram followers, extolling the success of his dizzying array of ventures, including bestselling author, philanthropist, property tycoon, motivational speaker, TV star, and film producer. In his own words, this man of many faces is a \u201cglobal icon.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe trouble is, once you start examining Robinson\u2019s words in any detail, his claims and inconsistencies unravel so quickly, and on such a bewildering scale, it\u2019s like teasing on a thread of the Bayeux Tapestry.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tHis website touts \u201c#collabs\u201d with people like Russell Crowe, but in reality, the stars interacted with him once on social media. Robinson recently claimed to have been personally invited by Sir Richard Branson to speak at Necker Island, but Branson had extended no such offer. He once started a charity to \u201cend homelessness,\u201d but FreedomX\u2019s financial filings put its donations at little more than \u00a34,000 ($5,450).\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tRobinson\u2019s braggadocious nature met its match last year when he began selling film development masterclasses to writers eager to bring their stories to the screen. He advertised himself as the mastermind behind Netflix<\/a> hit Legacy of Lies<\/a>, only for his students to revolt when they discovered that there was just a kernel of truth in the claims he had made about his involvement in the British action movie. Three writers took him to court \u2013 and won.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tIn correspondence through a lawyer, Robinson denied \u201cany and all allegations of impropriety.\u201d His position is that the questions about his professional conduct have been made by a small group of people seeking to \u201cadvance their grievances.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tRobinson may be different things to different people, but the image he projects is always the same: a successful man, capable of opening doors to people\u2019s dreams \u2014 and all for a fee. This is the story of how that self-portrait is in question.<\/p>\n

\n\tMarco Robinson: Knight Of The Realm<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tMark Lawrence Robinson, to give him his full name, styles himself as \u201cSir,\u201d an honorific that denotes credibility and trustworthiness in three letters. The title is foundational to the image Robinson projects of being an entrepreneur of sound social standing.<\/p>\n

\n\tHe likes to tell a grand story<\/a> about how he came into possession of his knighthood, but it does not involve a visit to Buckingham Palace. Robinson claims he received his honor from the King of Malaysia, which is part of the Commonwealth, made up of nations once belonging to the British Empire.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tRobinson\u2019s contested claim about receiving his \u201cknighthood\u201d for making a \u201cbig difference\u201d to the lives of blind people in Malaysia.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe businessman says he was personally contacted by the monarch after campaigning against guide dogs being barred from public spaces through the online film Are You Blind?. He claims the video had 15M Facebook views (the producer\u2019s official version<\/a> has just 1,300 views), embarrassed authorities, and paved the way for changes to the law in Malaysia.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tRobinson did have a hand in Are You Blind?, but in a fleeting acting role in which he helped a blind man cross a road. The film was made by Jason Lim, a Chinese director. Stevens Chan, the subject of the film and a disability rights campaigner alongside his late guide dog LaShawn, struggled to remember Robinson when contacted by Deadline. What\u2019s more, Chan says the laws around guide dogs have not changed in Malaysia, despite his lobbying efforts.<\/p>\n

\n\tMalaysian authorities say Robinson\u2019s title is not recognized in the country, per emails seen by Deadline. A Malaysian law firm, acting on behalf of an associate of Robinson, was also unable to find any evidence of the honor.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tRobinson insists his title \u201cDato Seri\u201d is recognized in Malaysia. The evidence he produces to support this includes a document purporting to be from a sultan in Indonesia, a different nation in Southeast Asia, as well as images of a ceremony at which he received a red certificate, which he regularly posts on social media while bragging about his achievements. <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tRobinson calling himself \u201cSir\u201d on Facebook<\/p>\n

\n\tIn summary, Robinson claims to have been knighted for events that have not happened, in a country that has no record of his honor.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tBut even if you accept his story as fact, Robinson has no right to use the title \u201cSir\u201d in the UK. Under a decree from Buckingham Palace, \u201cBritish nationals who have been awarded an honor by another country may not use any associated title.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tRobinson\u2019s position is that he has never hidden that he was honored outside of the UK. He denies that the honor was purchased.<\/p>\n

\n\tMarco Robinson: Film Producer<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tStriding along the French Riviera in a double-breasted tuxedo, Robinson\u2019s carefully curated Instagram profile would have you believe he is a mover and shaker at the Cannes Film Festival. But his claims to be a film producer are hotly contested.<\/p>\n

\n\tAs recently as this summer, Robinson boasted about his role in co-creating, bankrolling, and starring in Legacy of Lies, an action movie headlined by John Wick martial artist Scott Adkins. The movie gained traction when it was released on Netflix in 2021, climbing the ranks of the streamer\u2019s Top 10 lists globally.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tScott Adkins in \u2018Legacy of Lies\u2019<\/p>\n

\n\tRobinson has relentlessly capitalized on Legacy of Lies\u2019 moment in the spotlight, repeatedly describing himself as the producer of a \u201c#2 Netflix movie,\u201d a claim that has been ventilated by media outlets like GB News. Once a boy who says he daydreamed about James Bond to escape childhood deprivation, Robinson tells his followers that he is now a man capable of making his own spy movies.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe trouble is, those actually credited with producing Legacy of Lies have shot down his claims, recently sending him a letter demanding that he stop overstating his role in the feature. The entertainment industry is no stranger to individuals who espouse contested stories about screen hits, but the producers of Legacy of Lies have grown tired of his brags.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tGrant Bradley, Krzysztof Solek, and Alla Belaya say Robinson was not involved in the creative process of developing Legacy of Lies. They add that he failed to deliver his full financial investment of \u00a3445,000 (they say he provided around $70,000), invalidating his executive producer credit. Robinson insists he was never formally stripped of this title, though he only appears in the credits in the minor character role of Burns. Deadline has seen emails in which Robinson agrees to the termination of his investor deal, which entitled him to an executive producer credit.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tRobinson\u2019s disputed claims did not stop him from parlaying his involvement in Legacy of Lies into movie-making masterclasses, which include lessons on how to secure film financing and develop a Hollywood script. This is despite a Legacy of Lies producer saying he knows \u201cnothing about nothing\u201d in the film business.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tRobinson in \u2018Legacy of Lies\u2019<\/p>\n

\n\tBudding screenwriters signed up for the masterclasses after being contacted by Robinson on Instagram, spending up to \u00a310,000 to access his so-called expertise in script development. He pledged to produce their projects through his outfit, Undisputed Films (a \u201c#1 film production company\u201d per its website). Five writers who attended the masterclasses allege that Robinson relied heavily on ChatGPT to answer their questions and hone their writing.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe writers\u2019 scripts were in their infancy, but this did not stop Robinson from brashly approaching agencies, including respected UK outfits like Independent Talent, to sound out actors. Robinson told the agents that the films were funded and that actors would need to submit self-tape auditions, blithely explaining to experienced reps that \u201cthis is standard practice,\u201d per emails seen by Deadline.<\/p>\n

\n\tAs his Legacy of Lies boasts unravelled, writer Anu Verma sued the businessman, alleging fraudulent misrepresentation. A UK small claims court ruled in her favor in May, and Robinson was ordered to refund her. Robinson was defeated in two similar cases in recent weeks brought by Jess Peters and Andrea Whelan, other writers who attended his masterclasses. The ruling in favor of Whelan explicitly stated that her contract with Robinson was rescinded \u201con the ground of fraudulent misrepresentation.\u201d In total, he repaid \u00a333,314 to the writers, including legal fees and interest.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cAs someone who has experienced deceit and betrayal through my dealings with Marco Robinson, I can say that the impact goes far beyond financial loss,\u201d Verma explains. \u201cThe manipulation, false promises, and deliberate misrepresentation I endured reflect a pattern of narcissistic abuse, where charm is used as a weapon, and accountability is continually evaded.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThis has been a long and difficult process, but I\u2019m relieved that the court has finally recognized that Marco misrepresented himself and failed to deliver anything on the contract,\u201d Peters adds. \u201cI also hope that our victories will inspire others who have been scammed by Marco to come forward and fight for what\u2019s right.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tAnu Verma<\/p>\n

\n\tRobinson has since doubled down on his Legacy of Lies claims, writing on Substack last week that he \u201cbrought in the investment, the industry relationships, and the global marketing strategy that turned a concept on paper into a movie that would go on to reach millions worldwide.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tDeadline experienced Robinson\u2019s fabrications first-hand as part of the court proceedings. In September last year, we presented Robinson with a series of allegations and gave him a right of reply. Soon after, Robinson was hit with the court claims from disgruntled writers. We paused our work to await the outcome of some of these claims, but in a sworn statement to a UK court, Robinson wrote that Deadline retracted and apologized for the planned article. Deadline, and this author, made no apology to Robinson.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen Deadline pointed out that the falsehood in Robinson\u2019s statement could represent contempt of court, Robinson (through his attorney) \u201cvehemently denied\u201d writing the statement, saying he \u201cdid not advance, nor maintain that he received an apology.\u201d Robinson then changed his story again when we furnished him with a copy of his own statement, insisting that Deadline had made an apology.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe legal defeats have not stopped Robinson from continuing to pose as a film producer. He was in Cannes this year during the film festival. He claims to be casting for a feature titled Stolen, for which he has published a poster carrying the names of Ben Kingsley and Imogen Poots. Reps for Kingsley and Poots confirmed the actors have no involvement in the project.<\/p>\n

\n\tMarco Robinson: TV Show Creator<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tFilm is not the only screen Robinson claims to have conquered \u2014 he also styles himself as the creator and presenter of TV shows. This persona is not without legitimacy, even if Robinson appears to have embroidered the facts.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe 57-year-old was the focus of Get a House for Free, which screened on UK network Channel 4<\/a> in 2017. Produced by a now-defunct label owned by ITV Studios, the documentary followed Robinson as he gave away a \u00a3120,000 apartment in the north of England to a person desperate to get on the property ladder.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn this particular guise, Robinson was a real estate guru with a \u201cglobal property empire\u201d worth \u00a325M, according to the documentary. Robinson told Deadline that he ran the \u00a325M portfolio through Wealth Creation, but a financial filing for the UK-registered company put its fixed assets at \u00a35.4M, with revenues of just \u00a38,747, in the year the documentary aired<\/p>\n

\n\tGet a House for Free filmed him gifting a property to Holli, a single mother. Along the way, he promised to pay the deposit on a new home for Jo, a woman suffering from a degenerative eye condition. He also pledged to give a family of Syrian refugees the license to use one of his properties while they applied for asylum.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tRobinson on \u2018Get a House for Free\u2019<\/p>\n

\n\tDeadline asked Channel 4 a series of questions about whether Robinson fulfilled these promises, but it did not respond. Holli and Jo did not respond to requests for comment. Four producers involved in Get a House for Free either did not respond or declined to answer Deadline\u2019s questions about the documentary. Robinson says Channel 4 carried out \u201cextreme due diligence\u201d on him as part of the show, and he did hand Holli the keys to an apartment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat we can say with certainty is that Robinson\u2019s boasts about Get a House for Free do not align with what was shown on Channel 4. On his website and in his book, he claims he \u201cgave three houses away on TV.\u201d The documentary only captured him giving away one home. The show also does not credit Robinson as \u201ccreator,\u201d despite this claim appearing on his website.<\/p>\n

\n\tRobinson\u2019s position is that he gifted other properties on \u201cunaired productions,\u201d but did not provide further details on these projects. This contradicts his claims on his website and social media, where he has repeatedly stated that he gave the homes away on Get a House for Free.<\/p>\n

\n\tMarco Robinson: Bestselling Author<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tRobinson has spent years trumpeting his status as a \u201cnumber one bestselling author\u201d after publishing The Financial Freedom Guarantee in 2016. His receipts for this claim? A screenshot of the search term \u201cfinancial freedom\u201d on Amazon, in which his book is unsurprisingly the top result. He has also posted screenshots from Malaysian retailer MPHOnline, showing another of his books topping a bestseller list.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tRobinson\u2019s \u2018Financial Freedom\u2019 brag<\/p>\n

\n\tRobinson has deployed his \u201cbestseller\u201d moniker in recent months to encourage aspiring writers to join his \u201cStart Over\u201d movement. Connecting with collaborators over Instagram, he asked them to write about their life stories for a book collating the experiences of people who have turned a \u201closs into a sensational comeback.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThe website promoting the opportunity was remarkably similar to a co-authoring site launched by Kevin Harrington, one of the original investors on Shark Tank. Indeed, Robinson\u2019s website contained the statement \u201cleverage Kevin\u2019s 40+ years of fame and experience.\u201d Asked whether Robinson had literally copied and pasted Harrington\u2019s idea, his website was taken down. Harrington did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n

\n\tStart Over\u2019s blurb touts tales including a \u201csuicidal teenager who became a Hollywood star\u201d and a \u201ccancer patient who defied death to become a world-class athlete.\u201d The volumes are introduced by Robinson, who reflects on his experiences being homeless and bullied as a child. All involved in the project can claim to be co-authors, but not without charge \u2014 some have invested thousands of dollars for the privilege of their name being on the Start Over cover.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn the space of five months, Robinson published four Start Over volumes, showcasing the stories of more than 50 authors. Some have taken to TrustPilot to share glowing reviews about their experiences and the philanthropic network Robinson created, but others left the initiative, citing discontent with his methods.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tRobinson on \u2018BBC Breakfast\u2019<\/p>\n

\n\tHe heralded Volume 1 as \u201cnumber one\u201d on Amazon all over the world. The truth is a little more nuanced. Start Over did figure highly in certain Amazon rankings, but only under niche categories, such as Women\u2019s Spirituality or Indigenous Health & Healing. The books are actually hundreds of thousands of places down the Kindle Store bestseller rank.<\/p>\n

\n\tCo-authors allege that he coordinated orders of Start Over and took a screenshot of Amazon as the algorithm propelled it to the top of certain categories. Amazon declined to comment on the alleged gaming of bestseller lists. Robinson acknowledges efforts were made to secure \u201cthe best ranking\u201d for the Start Over books using the Amazon algorithm. He does not accept that certain categories are niche. Writing on TrustPilot, he said the books \u201csecured #1 bestseller status through legitimate efforts, reflecting their excellence and impact.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tMarco Robinson: Russian Target<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tIn recent weeks, Robinson has been touting other ventures, including a \u201ctequila empire\u201d and a coaching business.\u00a0But it is Start Over Volume 1 that reveals what is perhaps Robinson\u2019s most eye-catching persona: he claims to have been a person of interest for Russian intelligence. He tells a \u201ctrue story\u201d about how a beautiful Russian spy seduced him with a hidden agenda to stop him from making a film about the Kremlin bombing Kyiv.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tAs we have seen, Robinson often walks a fine line between fact and fiction, but only he really knows if an FSB agent, whom he claims was a cousin of Vladimir Putin, whispered warnings about his safety from between the bed sheets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"From homeless child to career sales of $2B, Marco Robinson\u2018s website trumpets a remarkable rags-to-riches journey. Beaming out…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":84738,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[268],"tags":[434,6016,18,117,19,17,56134,56135,127],"class_list":{"0":"post-84737","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-celebrities","9":"tag-channel-4","10":"tag-eire","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-ie","13":"tag-ireland","14":"tag-legacy-of-lies","15":"tag-marco-robinson","16":"tag-netflix"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84737","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84737"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84737\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/84738"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}