A French woman who was scammed out of €830,000 (£700,000; $850,000) by fraudsters posing as actor Brad Pitt has become the subject of widespread ridicule, prompting French broadcaster TF1 to withdraw a programme about her.
The primetime show, which aired on Sunday, focused on Anne, a 53-year-old interior designer, who believed she was in a relationship with Pitt for over a year and a half.
Since the programme aired, Anne has faced harsh mockery online but defended herself during a popular French YouTube interview. She stressed that she was not “crazy or a moron,” explaining,
“I just got played, I admit it, and that’s why I came forward, because I am not the only one.”
A representative for Pitt responded to the situation, telling US outlet Entertainment Weekly that it was
“awful that scammers take advantage of fans’ strong connection with celebrities” and urging people to avoid responding to unsolicited online communications, particularly from actors who do not have social media profiles.
Following the broadcast, social media users mocked Anne, with some commenting on her significant financial loss and personal struggles. TF1 reported that Anne had lost all her savings and had attempted suicide three times since the scam came to light.
In a particularly insensitive move, Netflix France posted an advert on X promoting “four films with Brad Pitt (for real),” while Toulouse FC shared a now-deleted post saying,
“Hi Anne, Brad told us he would be at the stadium on Wednesday… and you?” The football club later apologised for the post.
On Tuesday, TF1 issued a statement saying the segment on Anne had been pulled after her testimony led to a “wave of harassment.” However, the programme remains available online.
Anne’s ordeal began in February 2023 when she downloaded Instagram while still married to a wealthy entrepreneur. Shortly after, she was contacted by someone claiming to be Pitt’s mother, who said her son “needed a woman just like her.” The next day, someone posing as Pitt himself reached out, but Anne was initially sceptical.
“But as someone who isn’t very used to social media, I didn’t really know what was happening to me,” she explained.
The fraudsters convinced Anne that Pitt had sent her luxury gifts that were stuck in customs due to his bank accounts being frozen as part of his divorce from actress Angelina Jolie. As a result, Anne transferred €9,000 to the scammers.
“Like a fool, I paid… Every time I doubted him, he managed to dissipate my doubts,” she said.
The scam intensified when “Brad Pitt” claimed to need money for kidney cancer treatment, sending Anne AI-generated images of him supposedly in a hospital bed. Anne researched the images online but couldn’t find them, leading her to believe the photos were personal selfies taken just for her.
During this time, Anne divorced her husband and was awarded €775,000, all of which was transferred to the scammers.
“I told myself I was maybe saving a man’s life,” Anne, who is herself in cancer remission, explained.
Anne’s 22-year-old daughter told TF1 she had tried to make her mother see reason for over a year, but Anne was too caught up in the excitement.
“It hurt to see how naive she was being,” her daughter said.
The scam continued as Anne’s suspicions grew, especially when gossip magazines published photos of the real Brad Pitt with his new girlfriend, Ines de Ramon. The fraudsters then sent Anne a fake news report featuring an AI-generated news anchor claiming that Pitt was in an “exclusive relationship with one special individual… who goes by the name of Anne.”
This video momentarily comforted Anne, but when the real Brad Pitt and Ines de Ramon confirmed their relationship in June 2024, Anne ended the communication.
The scammers persisted, trying to extract more money by posing as “Special FBI Agent John Smith,” prompting Anne to contact the police. An investigation is now underway.
The TF1 programme revealed the emotional toll the scam has taken on Anne, stating that she is now financially ruined and has tried to end her life on three occasions.
“Why was I chosen to be hurt this way?” a tearful Anne asked. “These people deserve hell. We need to find those scammers, I beg you – please help me find them.”
In her YouTube interview on Tuesday, Anne criticised TF1 for omitting key details of her story, particularly her repeated doubts about whether she was speaking to the real Brad Pitt. She argued that anyone could have fallen for the scam, especially if they were told
“words that you never heard from your own husband.”
Anne also shared that she is now living with a friend.
“My whole life is a small room with some boxes. That’s all I have left.”
While many social media users mocked Anne, others sympathised with her, recognising the challenges older individuals may face in identifying scams involving AI and deep fakes. One popular post on X read, “I understand the comic effect, but we’re talking about a woman in her 50s who got conned by deepfakes and AI which your parents and grandparents would be incapable of spotting.”
An op-ed in the newspaper Libération expressed solidarity with Anne, describing her as a “whistleblower” in a world increasingly rife with cybertraps.
“Life today is paved with cybertraps… and AI progress will only worsen this scenario,” the article concluded.
Faridah Abdulkadiri
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