Woman exposed as 'country's biggest catfish' is now working as gynecologist in New Jersey

A woman who's been exposed as 'America's biggest catfish' for her incessant lies on dating apps is now working as a gynecologist in New Jersey. 

Dr. Emily Marantz, 39, from Livingston, works at Jersey City Medical Center, owned by RWJBarnabas Health.  

Along with being a doctor, Marantz has been branded a repeat catfisher, according to a new book 'There is No Ethan,'  by sociologist Anna Akbari. 

Akbari is one of many women who say they were personally victimized by Marantz, who they knew as a good looking six-foot tall Upper West Side man named Ethan Shuman. 

'There are 10 victims that we know of and this went on for the better part of a decade,' Akbari, a former NYU professor, told the New York Post. 

Although the medical professional of 11 years uses her married name at work, Akbari referred to Marantz by her maiden name, Emily Slutsky in her non-fiction, part memoir novel. 

In 2010, Marantz created a dating profile on the website OKCupid, where she convinced women that she was a Jewish economic analyst that studied at Columbia and M.I.T. 

She also told her love interests that she drove a BMW and had a dog named Harvey. 

After being ghosted numerous times by the doctor, Akbari soon tracked down two other women that experienced similar interactions with Marantz.

Akbari, Gina Dallago, and another woman named 'British Anna' all grew suspicious of the catfish-turned-doctor after she failed to turn up for video chats and canceled dates at the last minute. 

When Akbari first connected with who she thought was Ethan, the pair quickly became close after he confided in the author about his esophageal cancer diagnosis. 

Marantz told Akbari - who lost her grandfather to lung cancer - that her fake persona needed immediate surgery for Ethan's condition. 

'Emily chose to have Ethan fake having cancer, to be diagnosed with cancer while we were talking, already knowing I lost someone close to me a month prior,' Akbari told the outlet. 

At that point, Akbari felt so connected to Ethan - something that she said Marantz planned. 

'Of course, she knew I wasn’t going to abandon someone who’d told me that, because by then, there was an intimacy and a closeness that was well established,' she said. 

In the book, which was released in June 2024, Akbari detailed the conversations she had with Marantz, highlighting moments where the catfish would fight with her and then subsequently ignore her. 

Akbari said the gynecologist would also erase Ethan's dating profile at times. 

The author, who has been featured in the New York Times, recalled feeling like she's 'stepped into an emotional blender' after meeting Ethan.  

'The emotional abuse, that was a character choice she made.

'Why? I don’t know. But she was starting to make us question ourselves,' Akbari said. 

Akbari previously told DailyMail.com that Ethan would suddenly have to travel for work, or the bad weather made it impossible for him to get into Manhattan from New Jersey to visit her. 

'When you have an attractive, chatty, articulate guy, and you are an educated woman living in New York, you think, "All right, this seems promising.",' Akbari said.  

Dallago said her interactions with Marantz were just as peculiar as the doctor would compliment her and then mention that Ethan's mother would never approve of her because of his Catholic upbringing. 

Ethan would also plan trips with Dallago and then cancel right before without a reason why, according to the book. 

After more than a decade, Marantz has never faced consequences for her actions, being that she hasn't technically violated any laws, but Akbari is focused on making sure the doctor is held accountable for her past actions against her and many others. 

She asked: 'Would someone who hasn’t suffered any consequences for their chronic bad behavior, would they stop?' It’s an interesting question.

'It’s not my call to say what is a violation of medical ethics or the Hippocratic oath, but it’s shocking to me if this doesn’t qualify.

'This brings up so many questions, like should we be held accountable for our digital behavior in the same way we are for our physical behavior?

'In a culture where it feels like everyone gets canceled so easily, this is a remarkable case.

Akbari added: 'It brings up so many other questions, like who is allowed to get away with this type of behavior and why, and are we okay with that?' 

Marantz was featured in a promotional video for the hospital a year ago, where she talked about her experience not only as an employee there, but a patient, while pregnant with her son at the time. 

'It's really about finding somebody who understands where you're coming from, who knows how to listen to everything that you've brought up, and who knows how to make you the best, most comfortable patient that you could possibly be,' Marantz said in the clip. 

Marantz could not immediately be reached for comment.

The hospital told DailyMail.com that it 'has full confidence in Dr. Marantz's ability to continue providing the highest quality of care to her patients.' 

'The events from more than a decade ago have been reviewed and addressed to the satisfaction of the medical center,' the spokesperson added. 

Despite all of the hardship Akbari's been through, she hopes that her journey will help others in similar experiences 'triumph.' 

'I think there's something valuable in showing how any person can find themselves in one of these situations and still find a way to triumph.

'I think my hope honestly is that it will start some really important conversations,' she told DailyMail.com.