Brad Pitt Breaks His Silence on Alia Shawkat Dating Rumors

Brad Pitt and Search Party star Alia Shawkat are friends, but when a photo of the two together went viral, rumors started that the two were dating. This was news to Pitt, who was not even aware of the rumors until Shawkat asked him, the Arrested Development star told The New Yorker. Shawkat admitted to being "shaken up" by the sudden interest the paparazzi had in her when the rumors spread.

Shawkat, 32, almost can't believe there were rumors about her dating Pitt, 58, at all. "It came in hot and left as fast as it came in," she said. "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?"

Pitt had "no awareness of it at all," Shawkat said. "Which is so funny. Because he doesn't read that s—. 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."

Being under the spotlight was not fun for Shawkat. Although she started in the business as a child actor, she's never been one for the paparazzi to follow. It was a new experience for her, and she was not a fan. She was a little frustrated that romance rumors linking her to an older white guy got her more attention than her stellar 20-year career.

"That's what gets me. And it's ironic and gross and stupid," Shawkat said. "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 shit 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—."

Shawkat's frustration with the situation had nothing to do with Pitt himself. "He's a great f—ing guy," she said of the two-time Oscar winner. Shawkat and Pitt haven't made a movie together yet, but they have been friends for several years. Filmmaker Spike Jonze introduced them, she told Vulture last year. "We're not dating," she stressed at the time. "We're just friends."