Alia Shawkat has addressed long-running rumors about her relationship with Brad Pitt. The 37-year-old actress, best known for her role as Maeby Fünke on the comedy series Arrested Development, has set the record straight, saying the two are “just friends.”
Alia Shawkat explains why her friendship with Brad Pitt sparked years of dating rumors and recalls the media frenzy that followed
During a joint interview with her The Wrong Girls co-star Kristen Stewart, Alia Shawkat was asked about the persistent rumors by Andy Cohen on August 16. He said, “I was obsessed with the Brad Pitt dating rumors. How did they start? How did that come to be?” Alia responded, “Oh God, of course you were.”
She continued by saying, “This is my favorite question to get asked. Um, no — he’s just my friend. We became friends. Spike Jonze introduced us. It sounds all very chic and Hollywood. But we met, and he’s really into art, and he’s very cool, and we became friends. And everyone thought we were dating, because if you stand next to him, everyone thinks you’re dating. Like, even his own mother.”
The pair sparked romance rumors in 2019. They were seen spending time at the Wilding Cran Gallery in Los Angeles and attending an opera at the Hollywood Bowl. That November, a source familiar with Pitt’s situation told People that Pitt “was with a group of people, including Alia.” “They were all in a VIP box. Brad was friendly with Alia, but it didn’t look romantic at all,” the source said.
Nearly seven years after the rumors first surfaced, Cohen joked, “There could be worse dating rumors.” Reflecting on the media frenzy surrounding the rumors, Alia recalled, “My grandmother saved Us Weekly — I was on the cover of it. There was a really bad photo; it was him and me being like ‘ooh!’ And they were like ‘Who’s the new girl?’ And my Arabic grandmother was [excited]. I was like, ‘I’ve been working in film for 30 years, you’ve never seen anything, but you love this.”
Since 2022, Pitt has been in a relationship with jewelry designer Ines de Ramon. The pair made their red-carpet debut at the 2024 Venice International Film Festival. Meanwhile, Alia has not publicly confirmed a relationship.
TELL US – DID YOU EVER BELIEVE THE BRAD PITT AND ALIA SHAWKAT DATING RUMORS?
Originally reported by Meenakshi Sengupta for Reality Tea
