Brad Pitt’s ever-happy self-proclaimed Hollywood womanizer turned into a nightmare.
On Jan. 12, French TV channel TF1 aired an episode of its program “Sept à Huit,” which told the story of a 53-year-old interior designer named Anne who revealed that she lost 830,000 euros (about $850,000) in his money because he thought he was sending money to Pitt who was full of cancer.
Through fake documents and photos and artificial intelligence, Anne believes she was talking to, and finally in a relationship with, the 61-year-old actor.
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A woman was arrested for believing she was in a relationship with Brad Pitt after being contacted by someone claiming to be an actor on Instagram. (Stephane Cardinale/Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)
Reportedly contacted in February 2023 on Instagram by someone who introduced herself as Pitt’s mother, Jane Etta Pitt, 85, Anne received a message saying, “It’s a woman like you that my son needs,” to BFM TV and The Sunday Times.
“At first I thought it was a lie, it’s funny,” said Anne, AFP. “But I’m not familiar with social media and I didn’t really understand what was happening to me.” Despite her reluctance, Anne continued the conversation before she was texted by Pitt.
“Mom told me a lot about you,” the prankster wrote.
Anne was first lured into the scheme by someone pretending to be Brad Pitt’s mother, Jane. Jane and her son are seen here at the Academy Awards in 2012. (Steve Granitz/WireImage/Getty Images)
Anne was showered with lots of love messages and poems and pictures with the doctor. The operation was multi-faceted, with some posing as Pitt’s manager and daughter, Shiloh, who he shares with ex-wife Angelina Jolie, to help with the case. After an eight-year legal battle, Pitt and Jolie finalized their divorce agreement in 2024 after being legally declared “single” in 2019.
“What makes these crimes so dangerous is their multifaceted approach,” Marva Bailer, AI expert and founder and CEO of Qualaix, told Fox News Digital. “Scammers build trust over time, often pretending to be a family member, employee or someone close to the celebrity who claims to be helping the celebrity by managing their philanthropic efforts. This indirect approach makes the scam appear credible, as it is. not the celebrity directly asking for help, someone positioned to be more articulate or ‘the real one.’ It plays on the idea that a celebrity is too proud or too secretive to ask for help, making the situation seem inauthentic.”
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie finalized their divorce agreement in 2024. (MARK RALSTON/AFP via Getty Images)
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Anne was bothered by her lack of visual connection with the actor, prompting the scammer to send her an AI-selected video. Money was introduced in the interview when Anne was told she would need to pay more than €9,000 in tax to accept lavish gifts from a Pitt impersonator.
A recent divorcee, Anne passed on the scammer to receive a huge divorce settlement of €775,000. After this admission, Pitt’s actor told Anne that he had kidney cancer and was struggling to pay for his treatment due to the ongoing divorce from Jolie. Anne sent most of her divorce to the fake Pitt.
Throughout the course of treatment, accused Pitt sent Anne a series of doctor’s photos showing her time in the hospital receiving treatment. In another photo, Pitt is lying in a hospital bed holding a card that reads, “Anne I love you.”
Brad Pitt’s doctor’s photos were sent to Anne. An AI-generated video of Pitt was also posted. (Axelle/Bauer-Griffin)
A former student of social media, Anne had lingering doubts about how to block a scammer’s number so many times, she finally succumbed to her emotions and started communicating again. After reading a report that Pitt was involved with businesswoman Inés de Ramon, he was sent a fake TV report to ease his worries, which made it clear that the couple were not together.
When photos of the couple were released over the summer, Anne knew it was all a hoax and decided to take legal action. The story was finally pulled by TF1 because it started to be laughed at to the extreme. The network released a statement saying it chose to pull it from social media after the initial broadcast “sparked a wave of abuse” against the victim.
Brad Pitt and his girlfriend, Inés de Ramon, photographed together at the F1 Grand Prix of Great Britain. (Kym Illman/Getty Images)
A rep for Pitt told E! News on Jan. 15 that the situation involving Anne was “bad.”
“It’s unfortunate that scammers are taking advantage of the strong connection between fans and celebrities,” said a representative, “but this is an important reminder not to respond to unsolicited online communications, especially actors who don’t have social media presence.”
Pitt has no verified social networks. A representative for the actor did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Bailer echoed those sentiments, sharing that with how easily accessible celebrity images are, people are at risk: “With a celebrity’s social reach and online presence, they can create fake social media accounts or send e-mails or messages that look convincing.” they come directly from celebrities or their group, they are eager to be a part of something that feels special, they can easily be misled into thinking they are involved with someone. they hope.”
Brad Pitt has no verified social networks. (Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images for Lexus)
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Luke Arrigoni, CEO of Loti AI, a company that specializes in facial recognition and deep learning, told Fox News Digital that scams like this one involving Pitt’s likeness are “increasingly common.”
“To everyone dealing with these scam accounts, please be aware that scammers often give reasons why they have to hide their relationship. They lie about health problems or they are stuck somewhere, these are all red flags. But the biggest red flag is asking. for any kind of money at all .”
“These types of scams are rampant and the sophisticated things that are done using artificial intelligence are getting better and better all the time,” Ros Rosenburg, head of consulting firm Telluride Legal Strategies, told Fox News Digital. “Unless you’re traveling in celebrity circles, you should treat any communication from a celebrity with caution. It’s more likely to be a scam than the truth.”
Brad Pitt’s representative condemned the actions of fraudsters. (Photos by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty)
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