A representative for Brad Pitt has reacted to the viral story of a French woman who was catfished and conned out of her life savings by someone pretending to be the famous actor.
An interior designer, identified only as Anne, revealed on a Sunday episode of French TV’s “Seven to Eight” that she believed she was in a long-distance romance with the Oscar winner before being swindled out of what was valued at $850,000.
Days after the episode aired, a spokesperson for the 61-year-old actor addressed the controversy.
“It’s awful that scammers take advantage of the strong bond between fans and celebrities,” the rep said in a statement Wednesday. “But this is an important reminder not to respond to unsolicited online outreach, especially from actors who have no social media presence.”
Anne, 53, said she was first contacted on Instagram in February 2023 by someone claiming to be Pitt’s mother and wanting to introduce Anne to her son. Anne was then duped for more than a year by fake social media profiles and convincing AI-generated photos and videos used to impersonate Pitt.
She confessed to eventually transferring copious amount of money into a bank account after being told, among many lies, that Pitt’s own accounts were locked amid his contentious divorce battle with Angelina Jolie and that he needed help to pay for kidney cancer treatments. Many of the AI photos showed him in a hospital.
The scammer eventually proposed to Anne, which she accepted. She divorced her husband believing she would be with Pitt.
It wasn’t until Anne saw photos of the “Fight Club” star with his new girlfriend, Inés de Ramón, at the 2024 Venice Film Festival that she grew suspicious and reported the scammer to police.
“I just got played, I admit it, and that’s why I came forward, because I am not the only one,” Anne said, insisting she was not “crazy or a moron.”
After learning it was indeed a scam, Anne said she subsequently experienced severe depression, for which he had to seek mental health treatment.
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