Top 10 Celebs Who Have Been Catfished

We’ll start with the obvious: Nev Schulman is the co-creator and co-host of “Catfish: The TV Show” which premiered in 2012 and was inspired by his own experience. He was a photographer, and was sent some paintings of his photographs supposedly made by an 8-year-old girl, Abby. Through this correspondence, he eventually met her singer-songwriter half-sister Megan, with whom he embarked on an intense, passionate months-long online relationship. However, after a screw-up on “Megan”’s part, Schulman ended up finding out it was all lies, and everyone he was talking to, including Megan, was fake. A woman named Angela was running several different Facebook profiles, weaving a tall tale.

This one came dangerously close to ruining an NBA player’s life. To put it as simply as possible, Andersen met a then-teenage Paris Dunn online in 2011. They communicated online for some time, developing a relationship and exchanging increasingly explicit photos. When the two finally spent a weekend together in person, yet found that things were a little bizarre. Each of them would mention things that didn’t seem to make sense to the other. Basically, a woman in Manitoba, Canada had been catfishing both parties. That’s right; she was communicating with Andersen and Dunn as each other, lying about things like the latter’s age. Eventually, accusations against Andersen concerning underage photographs were cleared, and he was able to resume his professional career.

Sports analyst and former Colts football player Pat McAfee told this story from the early days of his career on Twitter. He claimed that a woman started to send him tweets, flirting and such. McAfee ignored her for a while, skeptical because he wasn’t a household name at that point. After checking out her profile however, he noticed she was conversing with other athletes, and figured it was probably legitimate. He chatted on and off with her for a few months. But he called things off after apparently having a dream that told him the woman was actually a man. A short while later, he saw her pictures and name on “Catfish: The TV Show.”

Sometimes, moms can be so embarrassing. Iggy Azalea once found a fan on one of her accounts named “Azalean4Life”. She found the person intriguing, and added them. But then, the star received a text message from her mother, revealing to her that she was, in fact, “Azalean4Life.” We’re not even sure if this catfish was fully done on purpose, but it’s a little funny, bizarre, and somehow pretty endearing. As for Azalea, she was embarrassed that she fell for it. She once mentioned that social media really makes her angry, and that it’s a toxic environment. Sadly, we’re certain she’s had way worse experiences than this.

In 2011, actor Thomas Gibson – best known for his role as Agent Hotchner on “Criminal Minds” prior to his 2016 firing – met a woman on social media. Gibson, who was then separated from his now ex-wife, started an online relationship. There were racy photographs and videos shared as a result. The tryst lasted about 2 years, until he discovered that the media he had been receiving were actually lifted from adult websites. His lawyers attempted to contact the culprit to end things, but they failed to prevent her from sharing her story with TMZ, alongside a video of Gibson. Needless to say, the news made headlines.

In 2014, “Catfish: The TV Show” saw its first famous victim in Tracie Thoms, a Broadway and film star. Thoms had come into contact with Sammie, an adoring fan, online. The two chatted frequently on Twitter, and Thoms was grateful to find a supporter who provided some extra publicity. Around the same time, the celeb was contacted by another fan, Reese. The latter was eventually said to have died, and Thoms was sent video footage of the funeral. That’s when she started having doubts, ultimately bringing “Catfish” into the mix. After some sleuthing, the show found Sammie and discovered she had come up with the Reese profile. She was basically just a lonely, bored individual. The footage was from Sammie’s cousin’s funeral.

Meri Brown is well-known by fans of TLC’s “Sister Wives.” In 2014, she ended her marriage to her husband Kody for legal reasons, yet remained with him. The two, however, were having issues and Brown found comfort in an internet admirer the following year. She engaged in an online relationship with a “man” named Sam Cooper. The two exchanged photos, voicemail, and countless private messages of the risqué variety. More than that, they bonded emotionally – or so Brown initially thought. This relationship carried on for about six months, after which the star found out she was actually communicating with a woman named Jackie Overton. Overton then reportedly made materials she had been sent public.

In 2012, actress Kimberly Williams-Paisley and her husband, country music star Brad Paisley, corresponded with a woman and her “daughter,” who was allegedly dying of neuroblastoma. The couple grew fond of the story, and exchanged photos and emotional calls with the two. Brad Paisley actually sang a song for the young child. The couple were crushed when they found out the girl had “succumbed” to her cancer. However, it turns out she never existed. The entire thing was an elaborate ruse created by a mother of two kids — neither of whom were sick. One psychiatrist called it a potential case of “Munchausen by Internet.” The woman also duped TLC star Kate Gosselin and “Wipeout’s” John Henson, among others. She was charged with a felony.

Danielle Fishel of “Boy Meets World” fame revealed that she was once catfished. In 1993, when she was beginning to receive celebrity attention, she received a letter (on paper, the old-school way) from a fan claiming to be a young girl. There were pictures, giving Fishel little to suspect — especially since this was before everything was online. The person eventually also sent along photos of her brother (whom she claimed was her guardian) and a number so the two could chat on the phone. The calls weren’t answered, and the voicemail suspiciously belonged to a man. Fishel then got word that the girl had “died,” realizing she’d been tricked. Scarier still, the catfisher started stalking her, though she didn’t go into detail on that front.

In 2009, a Facebook profile belonging to a fake persona, Lennay Kekua, began to communicate with Notre Dame college football player Manti Te'o. The two eventually began a months-long online romance, sharing lengthy, emotional conversations. In 2012, Te'o received word from Lennay’s “brother” that she had cancer. The athlete spoke to her on the phone regularly afterward, sometimes for hours on end. She then “died” on the same day as his grandmother, crushing his spirit. But it was all a sham, the fact that he was catfished was exposed, and Te'o was publicly ridiculed as a result. The woman behind Kekua, Naya Tuiasosopo, later came out as transgender, and has explained that the ordeal started to help her cope with her identity issues.