In a new interview with 'The New Yorker,' Shawkat opened up about the dating rumors and her friendship with the 58-year-old actor.
Alia Shawkat is sharing what Brad Pitt thought about rumors that the pair were dating. In a new interview with The New Yorker, Shawkat spoke about dealing with the paparazzi and her friendship with the 58-year-old actor.
"It came in hot and left as fast as it came in," Shawkat said of their viral 2020 moment. "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?"
While the 32-year-old actress found herself questioning if the moment ever happened, Pitt never he knew the rumors existed -- until she brought them to his attention.
"He had no awareness of it at all. Which is so funny. Because he doesn’t read that s**t," the Search Party star shared. "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."
Even Shawkat's grandmother got wind of the news, keeping an old gossip magazine with a story about the pair in her home as a memento of the moment.
"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," she recounted. "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."
Shawkat, however, was less than amused by the attention she received after their sighting, which included getting followed paparazzi.
"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," Shawkat revealed.
"And it’s ironic and gross and stupid. But yeah, again, it was super brief. And I was fine," she continued. "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."
Shawkat first addressed the rumors about her relationship with the A-list star in June 2020 in an interview with Vulture, where she set the record straight.
"We're not dating. We're just friends," Shawkat said.
The former Arrested Development star also describes the intense scrutiny she came under for spending time with Pitt.
"I've gotten press, but not like that," she noted. "Not so uncontrollable."
Shawkat recalled waking up one morning and realizing she was trending on Twitter due to her outing at a playhouse in Los Angeles with Pitt.
"I was like, I don't believe this," she said. "All my friends were like 'What's going on?' and sending me photos. I just felt overwhelmed. It's that feeling of being naked in school, like, Oh my God, everyone's looking at me."
The pair were first spotted together in September 2019 when they were photographed going to the opening of the show A Play Is a Poem in Los Angeles.
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