French TV show withdrawn after ridicule of woman who fell in love with AI Brad Pitt | France

A French woman who thought she was in a long-term romantic relationship with Brad Pitt and was scammed into paying €830,000 (£700,000) to help her undergo medical treatment has faced such wave of online mockery that a TV show about her was pulled. .

The interior designer, named Anne, 53, was the target of social media and was even the subject of a satirical sketch on France’s biggest radio breakfast show after giving an interview on Sunday on the affair on the show Sept à Huit on TF1.

Speaking about what she believed to be an online relationship with Pitt lasting over a year, Anne said she thought they were lovers. When she was told the actor needed financial help for his cancer treatment because his accounts had been frozen during divorce proceedings from Angelina Jolie, she transferred the money.

It was only when the Hollywood star was photographed in the media this summer with her partner, Inés de Ramon, that she realized she had fallen for a complex scam, Anne said.

“I wonder why they chose me to do so much harm like that,” she told TF1. “I never hurt anyone. These people deserve hell.

The television program went viral and gave rise to a wave of online gags about gullibility, prompting the channel to remove the program from its replay services on its websites on Tuesday.

TF1 indicated at the time of its broadcast that Anne had experienced mental health problems, had also suffered from severe depression and had been hospitalized for treatment. TF1 presenter Harry Roselmack wrote on social networks on Tuesday: “For the protection of victims, we have decided to remove (the segment) from our platforms.”

Among the social networks that mocked Anne’s credulity were the Toulouse Football Club, which wrote on withdraw his message and apologize.

Netflix France also published on social networks the promotion of “four films to watch with Brad Pitt (really) for free”.

The scam dates back to February 2023, when Anne, married to a wealthy entrepreneur, took to Instagram to share photos from a ski vacation in the French Alps.

Upon her return, she was contacted on the social network by a person posing as Jane Pitt, the actor’s mother, who began chatting with her and told her that she would be a good match for her son . Then another account contacted us, claiming to be the actor himself. His mother had told him everything, the person said. “I would like to know more about you,” read one message to Anne. “But I would like to know if you work in the media because I protect my privacy.”

Anne, who said she didn’t understand much about social media, spent a year and a half communicating with the person she thought was Pitt. This person used fake social media and WhatsApp accounts, as well as artificial intelligence imaging technology, to send him what appeared to be selfies and other messages, including poems and songs and a Apparent copy of Pitt’s passport. She said he was really interested in her work and they communicated every day. “I was in love with the man I was chatting with,” she said. “He knew how to talk to a woman.”

Among the things Anne discussed with the person claiming to be Pitt was his large divorce settlement. She then received AI-generated photos of the actor apparently in hospital, asking her to pay for his kidney treatment. She transferred hundreds of thousands of euros for alleged medical expenses.

The creators of the TF1 program declared that Anne had filed a police complaint for fraud.