Fallout star Ella Purnell found herself entangled in rumors linking her to Brad Pitt during his divorce from Angelina Jolie.
As tabloids speculated about the reasons behind the couple’s split, Purnell’s name got thrown into the mix. Years later, Purnell decided to address the rumors.
Purnell recalled in an interview with The Independent, that she had just landed her lead role on Sweetbitter, a TV adaptation of Stephanie Danler’s bestselling 2016 book of the same name, when it happened. Pitt served as an executive producer on the show.
“It was my first job in America so that was really scary and it was my first time going to New York,” she said, adding that she was living alone at the time.
Purnell explained that she found it “hilarious” when she stumbled upon a tabloid article claiming that she and Pitt were dating, as she had never actually met the actor.
“I was like, ‘That’s so funny.’ I sent it to a few of my friends [as a joke],” she recalled. “And then I went to bed and woke up the next day, and it was f***ing everywhere. I had family members texting me to congratulate me.”
Purnell – continued: “I was terrified. I was really upset. I felt like I couldn’t leave the house and I felt embarrassed.”
“I read all the comments saying, ‘She’s a little slut. She’s a gold-digger. She wants to get famous. She’s a homewrecker.’ Not one person was saying, ‘Shame on Brad for dating practically a child,’” she recalled.
The 25-year-old added that the situation also “bothered” her because “this would never have happened if I was a man”.
“Essentially, what the tabloids were implying was that I’d only gotten the [ Sweetbitter] job because I slept with the producer. This would never happen to the 21-year-old male lead of a show.”
Reflecting on the experience, Purnell wished she had quickly addressed the rumor by stating that she had never met him and using her platform to make a political stance.
She added: “Instead I didn’t do anything and I let it ride itself out and then by the time LadBible was tweeting about it three to four days later, I was like, ‘Ok, I really need to say something.’ That was f***ed. That was crazy.