“It’s horrible that scammers are taking advantage of the strong connection between fans and celebrities,” Brad Pitt’s representatives said in a statement.
ADVERTISEMENTBrad Pitt has released a statement after a French woman was scammed out of €830,000 by fraudsters posing as a Hollywood star.
The Frenchwoman, known as Anne, revealed on the show Sept à Huit on TF1 that she had been cheated out of the majority of his savings because what she believed was to pay for the actor’s “cancer treatment”.
The 53-year-old interior designer was duped by a scammer who sent messages and AI-generated photos of Brad Pitt. After forming a “relationship” with her and asking her to marry him, AI-generated photos were sent showing Brad Pitt hospitalized with kidney cancer. He needed money for treatment, under the pretext that Pitt’s real ex-wife, Angelina Jolie, had frozen his bank accounts.
Despite Anne’s doubts, she was reassured by the fake star’s “doctor”, who sent her an email explaining that Pitt was fighting to survive. It was then that Anne transferred around €800,000 to an account in Türkiye.
She said: “It cost me to do it, but I thought maybe I could save a man’s life. »
It wasn’t until the summer of 2024 that Anne realized the person behind the account wasn’t Pitt after seeing photos online of the movie star with his new girlfriend, Ines de Ramon.
“I wonder why they chose me to do so much harm like that,” she told TF1. “I’ve never hurt anyone. These people deserve hell.”
Today, Pitt representatives responded to the situation, which went viral in France and gave rise to shameful cyberharassment.
“It’s horrible that scammers are taking advantage of the close connections fans have with celebrities,” a Pitt spokesperson said. “This is an important reminder not to respond to unsolicited messages online, especially from those who do not have a social media presence.”
The response from Pitt’s team is the same as that made at the end of September 2024, when a similar scam affected two Spanish fans of the actor. Five people were then arrested and the fraud amounted to €340,000.
Police are now investigating the scam, which left Anne in hospital with depression. She criticized the editing of the TF1 show on social media and reports indicate she was hospitalized.
It is still unclear whether Anne managed to recover part of the funds. Meanwhile, TF1 withdrew episode Sept à Huit from circulation to prevent further cyberbullying.
As for the real Pitt, he and Angelina Jolie reached a divorce agreement at the end of last year.
Additional sources • TF1, Weekly Entertainment
