Last year, Esquire assigned me to write a profile about Jay Shetty, the ultra-famous self-help influencer and guru to the stars. At first, I thought Shetty was smarmy but ultimately harmless. But as I began my background research, I found Shetty had committed rampant plagiarism and multiple accusations online that Shetty had grossly exaggerated — or in some cases, completely fabricated — his Hollywood-worthy origin story. The profile was killed (Esquire wasn't interested in running an exposé), but @GuardianUS was. This piece is the result of investigating those claims. I interviewed dozens of people, including members of his religious community, academics who study Hinduism, his former employees and his ex-girlfriend. A lot of questions remain about Shetty (he declined an interview, answering written questions through his attorneys), but it's clear the story he tells about himself is not true.