Alia Shawkat says she was ‘obsessed’ with Brad Pitt dating rumors swirling in 2019
Alia Shawkat loved the Brad Pitt dating rumors that made the rounds circa 2019 — untrue though they were.
During a recent appearance on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen alongside The Wrong Girls costar Kristen Stewart, host Andy Cohen brought up the rumors to the Arrested Development alum. Speculation about Shawkat and Pitt’s relationship began after the pair were spotted attending several cultural events together.
Alia Shawkat thought the Brad Pitt dating rumors were hilarious
“I was obsessed with the Brad Pitt dating rumors,” Cohen told her, as Shawkat joked, “Ugh, me too.” Stewart chimed in, “I was enthralled.”
When asked how they started, the Search Party actress explained, “This is my favorite question to get asked. 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. We became friends. And everyone thought we were dating, just because… if you stand next to him, everyone thinks you’re dating. Even his own mother, so.”
It’s not the first time Shawkat has made this point, telling The New Yorker in 2022, “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.”
Shawkat’s grandma was obsessed, too
The dating rumors particularly thrilled Shawkat’s grandma at the time.
“My grandmother saved the Us Weekly I was on the cover of,” the actress recalled. “There was like a really bad photo, it was like him and then me being like [makes funny face]. And they were like, ‘Who’s the new girl?’ And my Arabic grandma was like, [gasp]. I was like, I’ve been working in film for 30 years. You’ve never seen anything, but you love this.”
In conclusion about Pitt, she said, “He’s great, he’s the coolest.”
Brad Pitt and Alia Shawkat’s actual dating history
Shawkat is famously private about her dating life. Though she’s been loosely linked to Michael Angarano and Jack Antonoff, there’s no proof that either relationship ever happened.
Though she doesn’t discuss the individuals she dates, Shawkat has been open about her sexuality. In 2017, she told Out, “I was a tomboy growing up, and I remember my mom asking me when I was 10, ‘Are you attracted to boys or girls?’ I said I don’t know. Now I consider myself bisexual, and I think balancing my male and female energies has been a big part of me growing as an actor.”
Pitt was previously married to Jennifer Aniston and Angelina Jolie, and has been in a relationship with Ines de Ramon since 2022.
Alia Shawkat and Kristen Stewart’s new movie
Shawkat and Stewart star in a gender-reversal stoner comedy directed by the Twilight alum’s own wife, Dylan Meyer.
The Wrong Girls came out on August 14 and was also produced by Seth Rogen.