Alia Shawkat Reveals How Brad Pitt Reacted to Their Dating Rumors, Talks About Paparazzi Attention

Alia Shawkat is opening up about those rumors that she was dating Brad Pitt after they were spotted hanging out together back in 2019 and 2020.

The 32-year-old actress, who stars in the new movie Being the Ricardos, formed a friendship with Brad and it led to her becoming a paparazzi target.

While Brad hasn’t ever spoken publicly about the rumors, Alia did speak out back in June 2020 to confirm they weren’t a couple. Now, she’s revealing how Brad felt about the rumors.

Click inside to find out what she said…

“It came in hot and left as fast as it came in,” Alia said during an interview with The New Yorker. “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?”

“[Brad] had no awareness of it at all. Which is so funny. Because he doesn’t read that s–t,” Alia said. “I was like, ‘You know everyone thinks we’re dating? And there’s this whole thing, and I’m being followed.’ 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.”

Alia talked about how the story even reached her family.

She said, “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 did not enjoy the attention she received from the paparazzi at the time.

“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,” she said. “There’s something ironic about it. It has nothing to do with Brad as a person—he’s a great f–king 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 continued, “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.”

Check out the most recent photos we have of Brad!