April Florio Backs Down From Brad Pitt Story

By: Shannon Gossage

In an interview with US Magazine April Florio allegedly claimed that Pitt "was attracted to me" and had "tried to kiss me, but I shied away." She also claims that she told Pitt that she was "not interested in dating anyone in the industry." In the interview she also said that she and Pitt had enjoyed a "three-day excursion last August" and that Pitt had invited her to Los Angeles while still married to Jennifer Aniston. Pitt denies any romance with the 22-year old model. His rep said, "Brad does not know April Florio. Could he possibly have met her at some time? Maybe, because he meets so many people, but he does not ever recall meeting her." After the story broke, Florio started singing a different tune. She said in an interview with another publication, "The direct quotes that are supposedly from me in the magazine article are totally fabricated. I met Brad Pitt only once, very briefly, at a party. Would he remember me? Probably not."

US Weekly’s West Coast Executive Editor Ken Baker says that is not so. He said, "We conducted an interview with her. We have her on tape making the statements published in the magazine." "He also goes on to say that she sat for a photo shoot and that a reporter met with her to verify her statements. For someone who obviously thought this would be her ticket to fame, she must be hearing that clock ticking away the minutes pretty quickly.

Florio appeared on CNBC’s The Big Picture with Donny Deutsch as a guest and to explain her side of things. She claims that she is not using the scandal to further her career (yeah, ok) and when asked how she could explain Baker’s insistence that they had her statements on tape, she said, "they must have spoken to somebody else." Oh, that must be it! Tick, tock, tick, tock…