A consultant for Brad Pitt has reacted to the viral story of a French girl who was catfished and conned out of her life financial savings by somebody pretending to be the well-known actor.
An inside designer, recognized solely 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 earlier than 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 mentioned in an announcement on 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, mentioned she was first contacted on Instagram in February 2023 by somebody claiming to be Pitt’s mom and eager to introduce Anne to her son. Anne was then duped for greater than a 12 months by faux social media profiles and convincing AI-generated photographs and movies used to impersonate Pitt.
She confessed to ultimately transferring copious sum of money right into a checking account after being advised, amongst many lies, that Pitt’s personal accounts have been locked amid his contentious divorce battle with Angelina Jolie and that he wanted assist to pay for kidney most cancers remedies. Lots of the AI photographs confirmed him in a hospital.
The scammer ultimately proposed to Anne, which she accepted. She divorced her husband believing she can be with Pitt.
It wasn’t till Anne noticed photographs of the “Fight Club” star along with his new girlfriend, Inés de Ramón, on the 2024 Venice Movie Pageant 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 mentioned, insisting she was not “crazy or a moron.”
After studying it was certainly a rip-off, Anne mentioned she subsequently skilled extreme despair, for which he needed to search psychological well being therapy.
Initially Revealed: January 16, 2025 at 7:29 PM EST
