The sinister story behind a viral TikTok voicemail
‘Maybe you were abused in childhood?’ the man suggests after not hearing back from the woman
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A TikTok clip of a woman appearing to listen to a jaw-dropping voicemail, in which a man explains exactly why she should go out with him, has received more than a million views.
Dimitri, as the man identifies himself at the start of the clip, is calling the woman for a second time after reaching out a few days earlier.
Despite not hearing back from the “elegant” woman in the first instance, Dimitiri issues a deadline of 3pm for her to return his call... or “I’m no longer interested,” he threatens.
Dimitri is supposedly “intelligent, great in bed, makes great money...” He continues to reel off the many attributes he claims to have.
In fact, as he puts it, he is one of the “few men in the city that has nothing wrong with him.”
Unable to confront the notion of potential rejection from the voicemail’s recipient, he suggests the woman could in fact be juggling several “psychological issues”.
“Maybe you were abused in childhood? Maybe you’re just somebody who’s extremely frightened and has an anxiety disorder? Maybe you’re on some medication for that? I don’t know. There could be another issue,” Dimitri suggests.
TikTok user @mollydareofficial captioned the video: “Dating in your 40s be like...”. The video showed her reaction to Dimitri’s menacing message.
As her video began to go viral, however, she was quick to correct the many people who believed she had been sent the voicemail.
“This audio is not mine – it’s a trending audio and it’s from 10 years ago,” she wrote in the comments section.
So, who is Dimitri?
“Dimitri the Lover” is a self-proclaimed pick-up artist who sold courses he claimed would train men to seduce women.
Dimitri is, however, just a pseudonym for this particular hustle.
The real name of the man behind this message is James Sears – a Canadian editor who was convicted of wilful promotion of hatred against women and Jewish people in January 2019.
Sears was the editor of an antisemitic tabloid promoting his own political party, the unregistered New Constitution Party, which was described by former Canadian Jewish Congress chief executive Bernie Farber as “a clear attempt at a hateful representation of Jews”.
In August 2019, Sears was released on bail pending the hearing of his appeal, which was later denied, marking the start of his one-year imprisonment.
Sears was later released on parole in October 2021, but was re-arrested for violating his parole conditions in February 2022.
Why is this voicemail now doing the rounds on social media?
It appears the infamous voicemail has been doing the internet rounds every couple of years.
Despite the voicemail being old, Sears’s methods appear familiar to a number of people on social media. Responding to the latest viral video to feature the audio, many viewers said they had experienced Dimitri-style propositions from men.
As one commenter puts it: “The sad thing is there are so many men out there like this.”
“He sounds like my ex,” wrote another.
Here’s the voicemail in full:
“It’s Dimitri calling again - the guy from the street.
“I left you a message several days ago. I don’t like leaving second messages, but I like you: you’re a very elegant woman, you’re very attractive. But I don’t play that game. So, this is how its going to work.
“If I do not receive a phone call back from you by 3 o’clock on Thursday afternoon, I’m no longer interested.
“I’m very intelligent, I’m great in bed, I make great money. Believe it or not, I’m a complete catch.
“A matter of fact, I am one few men in the city that has nothing wrong with him.
“Now, I understand if you’ve got other issues. Maybe you were abused in childhood? Maybe you’re just somebody who’s extremely frightened and has an anxiety disorder? Maybe you’re on some medication for that? I don’t know. There could be another issue.
“If you’re psychologically normal, and you haven’t called me because there has been some horrible thing that’s happened in your life which prevented you, that’s fine.”
The voicemail, reportedly sent to a woman called Olga, has since been made private in its original post to YouTube.