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Alia Shawkat Admits Brad Pitt Had ‘No Awareness’ of Dating Rumors: ‘It Was So Weird’
Dating rumors are awkward, even when those rumors include Brad Pitt. Actress Alia Shawkat addressed the rumors of her non-existent romantic relationship with Brad and admitted that the Hollywood heartthrob had no idea they existed at all.
“[The rumors] 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,'” Alia, 32, told the New Yorker in an interview published on Sunday, January 9. “[Brad] had no awareness of it at all. Which is so funny. Because he doesn’t read that [s–t].”
In September 2019, the Search Party actress and Brad, 58, sparked romance rumors when they were spotted together at the opening night of A Play Is a Poem in Los Angeles.
While Alia dealt with intense paparazzi attention, she also had to break the news to the Fight Club star.
“I was, like, ‘You know everyone thinks we’re dating? And there’s this whole thing, and I’m being followed,'” Alia continued. “And he was, like, ‘I’m sorry. It happens. If you hang out with me, it happens.’ He had no awareness of it at all.”
While it might seem like a dream come true to be linked to the Mr. and Mrs. Smith actor, it turned out to be a nightmare for the Being the Ricardos actress.
“It was not fun at all. I’m not an actor who has ever dealt with the paparazzi,” Alia, who became well known for her role as Maeby in Arrested Development, told the outlet. “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–king] guy.”
“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. And it’s ironic and gross and stupid,” she stated.
The Duck Butter cowriter and star even said the rumors reached her grandmother, who has been “in this country for over 30 years and still barely speaks English.”
As soon as the paparazzi appeared, though, “they just disappeared, and now they don’t give a [s–t].”
Alia quickly shot down the rumors in June 2020, during an interview with Vulture, explaining that she and the actor, who is 26 years her senior, were “just friends.”
Alia’s first film role, at age nine, was in the film Three Kings alongside Spike Jonze, who eventually introduced her to Brad years later at a movie premiere.
“We just became friends, and Brad introduced me to his group of friends, and it grew from there,” she told Vulture at the time, adding that the outlets that suggested they were dating were confused by the relationship. “To them it’s like, ‘We don’t get it! This girl is weird! She’s so different! Why are they hanging out?’ … You get too close to the prom king, and all of a sudden, everyone’s like, ‘Well, who is this b–ch?’”
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