Back in 2020, as the world coped with the onslaught of the pandemic, a rumor suddenly started spreading like wildfire: Brad Pitt was allegedly dating Alia Shawkat!
The rumor was debunked as quickly as it exploded — and now, Alia is speaking out about her viral moment with the 58-year-old actor as well as his reaction.
The 32-year-old actress spoke about her friendship with Brad in a new interview with The New Yorker. She said of the speculation surrounding their friendship:
“It came in hot and left as fast as it came in. It happened during covid, and I was alone with it. It was so weird.
Now it’s like a weird dream, where I’m like, did that happen?”
She shared that while she was wondering what the heck was happening, Brad actually wasn’t even aware that people were speculating about them — that it, until she told him about it:
“He had no awareness of it at all. Which is so funny. Because he doesn’t read that s**t.
I was like, ‘You know everyone thinks we’re dating? And there’s this whole thing, and I’m being followed.”
So how did Brad react? Alia revealed:
“He was like, ‘I’m sorry. It happens. If you hang out with me, it happens.’
He had no awareness of it at all.”
Alia hilariously shared that even her grandmother heard about the rumors:
“The other day I was at my grandmother’s house, my father’s mother. She’s been in this country for over thirty years and still barely speaks English. An Iraqi Muslim woman. She’s sitting there, watching her Turkish soap opera. And next to her is this old gossip magazine with Brad’s face, and my face in a small circle. And it says, ‘Brad’s New Girl!’ And then on the inside it’s old Instagram photos of me and friends at dinner. It was like, ‘ALL ABOUT ALIA.’ This whole made-up story about how we were healing each other by spending time together.
I looked at my grandmother, like, ‘Why do you have this?’ She’s, like, ‘It’s you and this movie star! And it’s your face.’ I was embarrassed by it. I told her she had to throw it away. And she laughed.”
Alia however was not as amused by the attention she got once the rumor gained traction:
“At the time, it was not fun at all. I’m not an actor who has ever dealt with the paparazzi. They don’t know who the f**k I am. There’s something ironic about it.
It has nothing to do with Brad as a person—he’s a great f***ing guy. But of course, the idea of me being romantically involved with an older white guy is what gets me the most attention. Not a twenty-year career. That’s what gets me.”
She added however that she was fine about it all:
“And it’s ironic and gross and stupid. But yeah, again, it was super brief. And I was fine. I was shaken up by it because I have a studio in Highland Park where I go every day. And I was, like, ‘There are these photos of me carrying way too much s**t to get inside. There are all these embarrassing photos, they had followed me there.’
Then they just disappeared, and now they don’t give a s**t.”
Alia first broke her silence on the speculation surrounding her and Brad back in June 2020, simply stating:
“We’re not dating. We’re just friends.”
