Bjørn Leo Benkow (13 February 1940 – 17 February 2010) was a Norwegian journalist who became infamous for faking interviews with celebrities. Among the persons Benkow claimed to have interviewed were

Bill Gates William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American business magnate and philanthropist. He is a co-founder of Microsoft, along with his late childhood friend Paul Allen. During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions ...

Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher (; ; born 3 January 1969) is a German former racing driver who competed in Formula One for Jordan, Benetton, Ferrari, and Mercedes. Schumacher has a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Lewis ...

, Oprah Winfrey and

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

, all of whom denied that the interviews had taken place. Benkow claimed that he interviewed Michael Schumacher in his home in Switzerland and Bill Gates on a plane to Munich, among other things. In reality, he fabricated the interviews in his own home. He sold his fabricated interviews to several Scandinavian newspapers. Suspicion he had fabricated an interview with Margaret Thatcher arose in 1992, with Thatcher denying that the alleged interview had taken place. In the summer of 2006, it was revealed that Benkow had fabricated several additional interviews. After spokespersons for several of the celebrities had denied that such interviews took place, Benkow admitted to having fabricated the interviews. His uncle was the politician

Jo Benkow Jo Benkow (born Josef Elias Benkowitz; 15 August 1924 – 18 May 2013) was a Norwegian politician and writer, notable for being an important person in the Conservative Party of Norway, and the President of the Parliament 1985–1993. He was also ...

References

Norwegian journalists Journalistic hoaxes Norwegian Jews Norwegian fraudsters 1940 births 2010 deaths Hoaxes in Norway {{Norway-journalist-stub