Alia Shawkat Says Brad Pitt ‘Had No Awareness’ of Past Dating Rumors: ‘It Was So Weird’

Entertainment TV Alia Shawkat Says Brad Pitt ‘Had No Awareness’ of Past Dating Rumors: ‘It Was So Weird’ “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 told The New Yorker By Greta Bjornson Greta Bjornson Twitter Digital News Writer, PEOPLE People Editorial Guidelines Published on January 11, 2022 01:16 PM Share Tweet Pin Email Trending Videos Paul Morigi/Getty; Desiree Navarro/WireImage. Alia Shawkat is setting the record straight about her friendship with Brad Pitt. In a new interview with The New Yorker, Shawkat addressed rumors that she was romantically linked several years ago, insisting the “weird” gossip was completely false. (The Search Party actress was first spotted with Pitt in 2019, although a source told PEOPLE their relationship was purely platonic at the time.) When asked about any potential “runoff” from rumors that she and Pitt were dating, Shawkat told The New York that the attention has since died down. “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?’ ” Alia Shawkat Issues Arabic Greeting While Presenting at the SAG Awards Samir Hussein/WireImage; Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty. Shawkat said that Pitt was unphased by the media attention, saying, “He had no awareness of it at all. 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,’ ” she explained. “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 said that while Pitt was unaware of the spotlight on their friendship, her own family was even keeping up with the saga in the press. “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,” Shawkat said. “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,’ ” she added. “This whole made-up story about how we were healing each other by spending time together. All this crazy s—.” Brad Pitt Is ‘Keeping Friends as Friends’ as He Spends Time with Alia Shawkat, Says Source Shawkat continued, “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.” The attention was unwelcome, Shawkat said, calling it “no fun at all.” “I’m not an actor who has ever dealt with the paparazzi. They don’t know who the f— I am,” she told The New Yorker. “There’s something ironic about it.” Shawkat said, “it has nothing to do with Brad,” describing Pitt as “great,” before adding, “of course, the idea of me being romantically involved with an older white guy is what gets me the most attention. Not a 20-year career. That’s what gets me.” Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free weekly newsletter to get the biggest news of the week delivered to your inbox every Friday. Shawkat has been acting since she was 12, and has appeared in Arrested Development, Broad City, Transparent, Being the Ricardos and Search Party. While she admitted she was “shaken up” by the media scrutiny, Shawkwat said she’s now “fine.” “It’s ironic and gross and stupid. But yeah, again, it was super brief. And I was fine,” she said. “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— 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—.”