A television report on French channel TF1 about the victim of a scam has been removed after the woman involved received relentless online mockery for believing she was in a romantic relationship with American actor Brad Pitt and was scammed out of EUR 830,000, Le Monde reported.
The woman, a 53-year-old interior designer named Anne, was in what she thought was an online relationship with Pitt for over a year, believing they were in love.
The scammer, pretending to be Pitt, told her that he needed money to help with cancer treatment because his accounts had been frozen following divorce proceedings with Angelina Jolie.
Subsequently, Anne was subjected to ridicule on social media following the TV report shared on France’s TF1 channel, which went viral on social media.
“The report aired this Sunday [January 12, 2025] has triggered a wave of harassment against a witness. For the protection of the victims, we have decided to remove it from our platforms,” wrote the program’s host Harry Roselmack on his X account.
Following the scam, the woman is now financially ruined and has attempted suicide three times. Anne has reportedly filed a complaint and is currently hospitalized in a facility specializing in severe depression.
Anne had only realized she was being misled when the media shared pictures of Pitt with his partner, Inés de Ramon, in the summer of 2024.
“I ask myself why they chose me to do such harm like this,” she told TF1. “I’ve never harmed anyone. These people deserve hell.”
On Tuesday, the broadcaster removed the interview from its replay services on its websites after it went viral and sparked a flurry of internet jokes about credulity.