Brad Pitt speaks out after woman loses $850,000 in an AI catfish scam using his face

Brad Pitt has reacted after a French woman was scammed out of $850,000 in an artificial intelligence catfish about the Hollywood star.

The 53-year-old woman known only as Anne was allegedly catfished into believing Pitt needed surgery, leading her to hand over $850,000 (£700,000) to scammers. According to French broadcaster BFM TV, someone posing as Pitt persuaded Anne to divorce her wealthy husband and to marry him instead.

The lies and pressure started to ramp up when the fake Pitt told Anne he had cancer but couldn’t afford a kidney transplant because his money was tied up in divorce proceedings with his ex Angelina Jolie.

As the man whose likeness was used to commit the scam, Pitt himself has issued a response on the matter.

In a statement, a representative for Pitt said: “It’s awful that scammers take advantage of fans’ strong connection with celebrities but this is an important reminder to not respond to unsolicited online outreach, especially from actors who have no social media presence.”

Anne has spoken to the French media about her experience and how she became embroiled in the situation.

“I’m not used to social media,” she told Sept à huit. “And I didn’t really understand what was happening to me.”

After corresponding for a while and exchanging love poems, she began to fall in love with who she thought was Pitt.

Anne added: “There are so few men who write you this kind of thing. I liked the man I was talking to. He knew how to talk to women, it was always very well done.”

AI-generated images depicting Pitt in a hospital bed convinced her that the Fight Club actor was unwell and that she should send money.

But, she became suspicious when she began to see images of the real Pitt with his girlfriend, Ines de Ramon, in the press.

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