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New Delhi:
Brad Pitt has issued a statement after a French woman was scammed to the tune of 8,00,000 euros by a man impersonating Pitt. The actor’s team urged fans “to not respond to unsolicited online outreach”, especially from actors with no social media presence.
The story dates back to February 2023 when 53-year-old Anne was on a ski trip to Tignes and received a message on Instagram, from an account posing as Pitt’s mother Jane Etta Pitt. A day later she got a message from another account posing as the actor himself and the duo hit off immediately.
The alleged Brad Pitt account sent poems and declarations of love to Anne, making her believe that the two were in a long-distance relationship. The timing of this was apt as Anna, married to a millionaire, was going through a rough patch in her relationship.
While the person pretending to be Pitt avoided calls, he sent Artificial Intelligence-generated videos and images to Anne to convince her of his identity and love for her. He even asks her to marry him.
Soon after, Anne’s divorce was finalised and she received compensation of 7,75,000 euros. At the same time, fake Pitt shared doctored photos of him in a hospital, asking Anne for the money to treat an alleged kidney cancer. He said his bank accounts are blocked due to his ongoing divorce case with Angelina Jolie.
“It hurts me to do it, but I tell myself that I might save a man’s life,” she said on the show “Sept a huit” broadcast on Sunday (January 12) evening on local news channel TF1.
Many months later, in 2024, when Anne saw reports of Pitt’s relationship with jewellery designer Ines De Ramon, she realised she had been scammed. Anne is in hospital, being treated for severe depression.
After the news came to limelight, Pitt’s representative addressed the situation and shared a statement with E! News. “It’s awful that scammers take advantage of fans’ strong connection with celebrities,” the spokesperson said on January 15, “but this is an important reminder to not respond to unsolicited online outreach, especially from actors who have no social media presence.”
This is not the first time someone has been cheated by ‘Brad Pitt’. In September 2023, Spanish police arrested five people accused of scamming two women of 325,000 euros by posing as Brad Pitt via online and WhatsApp messages.