8 celebrities who have been catfished online
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Many celebrities use social media to communicate with fans.
Sometimes, the people who reach out to stars lie about their identities for financial or emotional reasons.
Brad Paisley, Iggy Azalea, and Thomas Gibson have all been catfished by individuals in the past.
Social media platforms — such as Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook — have made it easier than ever to communicate with strangers.
While many celebrities use the platforms to interact with fans and friends, some stars have found themselves in complicated situations when people online lie about their identity. Celebrities like Brad Paisley, Iggy Azalea, and Thomas Gibson have all been been tricked for various reasons on the internet.
Here are eight famous people who have been catfished in the past.
Brad Paisley and Kimberly Williams-Paisley were catfished by a woman who claimed to have a sick daughter.
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A woman named Carrie, who said her daughter was diagnosed with cancer, reportedly reached out to the couple. In 2013, Kimberly told ABC News that she answered the email and began exchanging messages with Carrie, who sent the actress letters and photographs of the child. Per Carrie's request, Brad even sang "Amazing Grace" over the phone.
Carrie then informed the couple that her daughter passed away, and the couple asked for her address to send flowers. When she dodged the question, Brad and Kimberly said they grew suspicious. "Every red flag went up that I couldn't ask a simple question," the actress told ABC News.
Police found that a woman named Hope Jackson made up the story and pulled photos of sick children from the internet.
"That is the part that when I start to talk about that, that's when I get really mad. That there were real kids, that there were real photos involved," Brad told ABC News.
Because the country singer sang "Amazing Grace" under false pretenses, Jackson was reportedly arrested on the felony charge of theft of services before posting bail in 2013. ABC News also reported that she'd been pulling off these schemes for four or five years.
Jackson also fooled Kate Gosselin, who dedicated an episode of TLC's "Jon and Kate Plus 8" to her.
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The former "Jon and Kate Plus 8" star dedicated an episode of the show to a woman named Hope, who reached out to Gosselin and eventually led the reality star to believe she died of cancer. The credits read, "In Loving Memory of Hope."
While "Nightline" producer Sally Hawkins reported on the Paisley catfish case in 2013, she uncovered the scheme and emailed the reality star to inform her that Jackson lied to her as well.
"This is the first email in a LONG time that I read, and realized my jaw had actually dropped and my mouth was hanging open," Gosselin responded.
Jackson also reportedly targeted Little Big Town.
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ABC News reported that Jackson also tried to catfish the four-person group Little Big Town. The band hasn't spoken publicly about their interaction with Jackson.
John Henson engaged in conversation with Jackson, who told him she had a sick daughter.
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The "Wipeout" host told ABC News that he received an email from a woman who claimed her sick daughter was a fan of the show. He also told reporters that he received journal entries and drawings from the girl, who the woman claimed was diagnosed with cancer.
Henson recalled asking the girl's mother to provide the doctors' names. When she refused, he told ABC News that he hired a private investigator, who discovered that the photos of the girl were actually taken of a girl who died in 2007. According to ABC News, the police confirmed that Jackson was behind this scheme as well.
Thomas Gibson had an online flirtation with a woman for two years before learning that she was lying to him.
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A woman reportedly contacted the "Criminal Minds" actor on Twitter, claiming to be the person in X-rated photos. They continued contact and formed a relationship, according to TMZ.
When Gibson, who was legally married at the time, learned that she wasn't the woman in the photos two years later, his lawyers sent her a letter telling her not to contact him again. She then forwarded an old video the actor sent from his hot tub to TMZ in 2013.
Tracie Thoms was catfished by a superfan.
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The "Rent" actress appeared on a 2014 episode of MTV's "Catfish: The TV Show" after her interactions with a superfan named Sammie, who also introduced Thoms to her friend online.
The actress said she grew uneasy when Sammie told her that her friend died from cancer and even sent Thoms a video of her coffin. When the actress asked her for an obituary, Sammie deleted all of her tweets.
Toward the end of the episode, Thoms discovered that Sammie was behind all of the fan accounts. She also learned that Sammie had used footage from a cousin's real funeral and said it was her fictional friend in the coffin.
When she met Sammie on the episode, Thoms wasn't angry and instead encouraged her to channel her energy into more productive projects.
R. Prophet formed an online relationship with a woman who posed as a model.
R. Prophet/Instagram
The rapper, who has been nominated for two Grammy Awards, appeared on a 2015 episode of MTV's "Catfish: The TV Show."
He said he joined social media to promote his career. After joining Facebook, R. Prophet sent a friend request to a woman name Trinity, whose profile showed photos of model Jasmine Sanders.
The musician said that they never video chatted but spoke regularly and formed a close romantic relationship. R. Prophet sought assistance from "Catfish" hosts Nev and Max, who discovered that the person behind the account was a woman named Crystal Ramsey — and she wasn't the woman in the photos.
Following the revelation, R. Prophet said he felt "embarrassed" but shared that he still kept in touch with Ramsey as friends due to their bond.
Iggy Azalea chatted with a fan account and didn't realize that her mother created the profile.
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The Australian rapper recounted her own catfish experience on The Cruz Show in 2015.
"There was this one fan, and I was like 'Oh, I like this fan. This fan is cool. I'm going to add them,'" the rapper said on the radio show.
Azalea explained that she chatted with the fan account before her mother texted her saying, "You know I'm Azaleaforlife, right? That's me."
She had unknowingly friended her mother. "I felt so embarrassed that I was like, 'I know that. Obviously I can tell it's you,'" she said she told her mother.
The "Fancy" artist admitted, "I didn't know that it was her."
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