Brad Pitt fans are being warned against scammers after a French woman reportedly lost $850,000 – and her marriage – after falling prey to AI images and fake messages posing as the actor.
“It’s horrible that scammers are taking advantage of fans’ close ties to celebrities,” said a spokesperson for the association. silver ball the star tells Weekly Entertainment“But it is an important reminder not to respond to unsolicited online communications, especially from actors who have no social media presence.”
This statement echoes a similar comment EW received following reports from another Pitt-related scam in September.
Victim of the last episode, Anne, a 53-year-old French interior designer, first detailed her experience in an interview with Seven to eight on the French channel TF1, France 24 reports. Anne said she was first contacted by a personality claiming to be Pitt’s mother on Instagram. “She told me her son needed someone like me,” Anne said.
A few days later, an account claiming to be Pitt himself was contacted. “At first, I told myself that it was false, that it was ridiculous,” Anne told TF1 (via France 24). “But I’m not used to social media and I didn’t really understand what was happening to me.”
The scammers told Anne that Pitt needed funds to cover his kidney treatment, which he could not pay for himself due to his bank accounts being frozen in his divorce proceedings. To convince Anne that the real Pitt was behind the account, the scammers sent doctored, AI-generated images of the actor in a hospital bed to verify his identity.
David M. Benett/Max Cisotti/Dave Benett/WireImage
Believing that she and Pitt were in a romantic relationship, Anne ultimately sent $850,000 to the scammers and also divorced her husband so that she could sue Pitt. “I was in love with the man I was chatting with,” she said on Seven to eightby The Guardian. “He knew how to talk to a woman.”
Anne only realized her mistake when she heard the news of Pitt’s true love affair with Ines de Ramon, and she eventually filed a police report for the scam. “I wonder why they chose me to do so much harm?” she said Seven to eight. “I’ve never hurt anyone. These people deserve hell.”
Want more movie news? Register for Weekly Entertainment free newsletter to get the latest trailers, celebrity interviews, movie reviews and much more.
After sparking a wave of memes and mockery, TF1 withdrew the Seven to eight traffic episode to prevent further cyberbullying. The network reported that Anne had experienced mental health issues, including depression.
In September 2024, the Spanish Interior Ministry announced that five online scammers had been arrested for defrauding two women out of $350,000 by posing as Pitt. It is not immediately clear whether the incidents in Spain and France are linked.
THE Wolves actor recently reached a settlement in his divorce Since Angelina Joliewhich had been the subject of lengthy legal proceedings dating from 2016when the Evil star accused Pitt of abuse. The FBI investigated Jolie’s allegations of Pitt’s abuse and ultimately dropped the case without filing charges, according to P.A..