AI Brad Pitt defrauded French woman of €830,000
A French woman who was defrauded of €830,000 (£700,000; $850,000) by fraudsters posing as actor Brad Pitt has faced a huge wave of ridicule, leading French broadcaster TF1 to A program had to be withdrawn.
The primetime program, which aired Sunday, drew national attention to Anne, a 53-year-old interior designer who thought she was in a relationship with Pitt for a year and a half.
She has since said on a popular French YouTube show that she was not “crazy or stupid”: “I’ve just been played, I accept it, and that’s why I came forward, because I’m not alone.”
A representative for Pitt told American outlet Entertainment Weekly that it is “terrible that scammers take advantage of fans’ strong connections with celebrities” and that people should not respond to unsolicited online outreach “especially from actors who have no social connections.” There is no media presence.”
Hundreds of social media users mocked Anne, who the program said had lost her life savings and tried to take her own life three times since the scandal broke.
Netflix France put up a post advertising “four movies with Brad Pitt (really)” on Will you be in the stadium?
After this the club has apologized for this post.
On Tuesday, TF1 said it had pulled the segment on Anne after Anne’s testimony sparked a “wave of harassment” – although the program can still be found online.
In the report, Anne said her ordeal began when she downloaded Instagram in February 2023, when she was married to a wealthy entrepreneur.
She was immediately contacted by someone who said she was Pitt’s mother, Jane Etta, who told Anne that her son “needs a woman like her”.
The next day she was contacted by someone claiming to be Pitt, which set off alarm bells for Anne. “But being a woman who is not very accustomed to social media, I really didn’t know what was happening to me,” she said.
At one point, “Brad Pitt” said that he tried to send her luxury gifts, but he was unable to pay customs duties on them because his bank accounts were frozen. Due to his divorce proceedings with actor Angelina JolieAnne was induced to transfer €9000 to the scammers.
He said, “Like a fool, I paid the price…Whenever I doubted him, he managed to dispel my doubts.”
Requests for money increased when fake Pitt told Anne he needed cash for kidney cancer treatment, sending her several AI-generated photos of Brad Pitt in a hospital bed. “I looked for those pictures on the internet but couldn’t find them, so I thought that meant she took those selfies just for me,” she said.
Meanwhile, Anne and her husband divorced and she was awarded €775,000 – all of which went to the scammers.
“I told myself I was probably saving a man’s life,” said Anne, herself a cancer survivor.
Anne’s daughter, now 22, told TF1 that she tried to “make her mom see reason” for more than a year, but her mother was too excited. “It’s sad to see how naive she was,” he said.
When gossip magazines published photos showing the real Brad Pitt with his new girlfriend Ines de Ramon, raising suspicions in Anne’s mind, the scammers sent her a fake news report in which an AI-generated anchor described Pitt as “a special someone.” Talked about “special relationship with”. ..who is known as Anne.”
The video consoled Anne for a short time, but when the real Brad Pitt and Ines de Ramon made their relationship official in June 2024, Anne decided to end things.
When scammers tried to extort more money from her under the guise of “Special FBI Agent John Smith”, Anne contacted the police. The investigation is still going on.
The TF1 program said that the events broke Anne and that she tried to end her life three times.
Crying, Anne said, “Why was I chosen to be hurt like this?” “These people deserve hell. We have to find those scammers, I beg you – please help me find them.”
But in a YouTube interview on Tuesday, Anne hit back at TF1, saying it left out details over her repeated doubts about whether she was talking to the real Brad Pitt, and said if they were told no one would. Could have got trapped in this scam. Words you’ll never hear from your husband.”
Anne said she was now living with a friend: “My whole life has been a little room with a few boxes. That’s all I have left.”
While many online users mocked Anne, many took her side.
A popular post on -Grandma won’t be able to recognize.”
An op-ed in the newspaper Liberation said Anne was a “whistleblower”: “Life today is full of cybertraps… and AI advances will only worsen this scenario.”
