The Real Brad Pitt Has Reacted To The Viral Story About The Woman Who Claimed She Was Conned Out Of $855K By Scammers Pretending To Be Him

CONTENT WARNING: This post briefly discusses attempted suicide.

On Sunday, Brad Pitt inadvertently found himself at the center of an overseas catfishing scandal when a woman claimed on a French news show that she was scammed out of €830,000 by someone posing as the movie star.

Brad Pitt in a racing jumpsuit with sponsor logos, wearing sunglasses, outdoors. Another person is in the background
Jayce Illman / Getty Images

If you’ve not seen the pictures online yet, scammers allegedly used AI-generated images and manipulation tactics to trick the 53-year-old woman — an interior designer who identified herself as Anne — into believing she was in a relationship with the actual Brad Pitt.

Brad Pitt wearing a dark suit on a red carpet with photographers in the background

As their online relationship developed, the scammers behind fake Brad convinced Anne that he needed money, alleging that his bank accounts were frozen due to his divorce proceedings with Angelina Jolie.

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt on the red carpet; one in an off-the-shoulder dark dress, the other in a classic black suit and tie

“Like a fool, I paid... Every time I doubted him, he managed to dissipate my doubts,” Anne recalled.

Dimitrios Kambouris

The financial requests reportedly started as customs payments for luxury gifts, and then things escalated when fake Brad told Anne he needed money for cancer treatment. The scammers sent AI-generated photographs depicting Brad in the hospital, which Anne subsequently looked up online, only to find they did not exist, leading her to believe they were genuine.

TF1 / Twitter: @CultureCrave

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“I thought that meant he had taken those selfies just for me,” she said.

So, feeling that she would be “saving a man’s life,” Anne obliged and sent the payments — which, over a year and a half, came out to about $855,000.

While all this was going on, Anne went through a divorce in which she received a settlement of €775,000. She wound up giving all this money to fake Brad and the scammers.

While all this was going on, Anne went through a divorce in which she received a settlement of €775,000. She wound up giving all this money to fake Brad and the scammers.

Gilbert Flores / Variety via Getty Images

Amidst the ordeal, Anne’s now-22-year-old daughter had tried and failed to get her mom to “see reason.” However, things eventually came crumbling down in the summer of 2024 when Anne saw online that Brad (the real one) had debuted his (real) relationship with Ines de Ramon.

Despite the scammers' attempts to rectify the situation with an AI-generated news report about the actor’s “exclusive relationship” with Anne, she eventually decided to end things. She later contacted the police, and an investigation is currently underway.It was revealed on Sept à huit that Anne — now left in financial ruin — has tried to end her life three times since the ordeal came to light. “Why was I chosen to be hurt this way?” she said on the show. “These people deserve hell. We need to find those scammers. I beg you — please help me find them.”

Since the TV segment aired last week, Anne has been the subject of mockery online. And now, Brad Pitt (for real) has addressed the situation with a warning about online scams.

“It’s awful that scammers take advantage of fans’ strong connection with celebrities,” the actor’s spokesperson said in a statement provided to E! News on Jan. 15.They added that the ordeal is “an important reminder to not respond to unsolicited online outreach, especially from actors who have no social media presence.” For context, Brad has no official social media accounts.

TF1 has since withdrawn the segment from replays of Sept à huit, and Anne has criticized the broadcaster for apparently misrepresenting her experience and attempting to “tarnish” her image.

Person in formal attire gives a thumbs up gesture at a celebrity event

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