Raffaello Follieri never spoke to Anne Hathaway again after his arrest in 2008

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Generation TikTok doesn’t know much about Anne Hathaway and Raffaello Follieri, but that was such a major scandal back in 2008. It’s sometimes hard to believe that Anne’s career survived. When Anne was 21 years old, she was introduced to Follieri by mutual friends. He was presented to her as a 25-year-old charming, rich, demonstrative businessman. Were there signs of what was really going on in the years they were together? I believe so, but who knows. By the spring and summer of 2008, Follieri’s house of cards was falling – it turns out he was little more than a well-connected con man with a portfolio of fictitious business deals. He stole money from investors to party with Hathaway and embiggen himself. If you’d like to read a good account of what happened, Vanity Fair’s piece at the time was one of the better ones. There was even some reporting that Anne helped the FBI in some way. What we do know is that Anne never faced any charges and she was able to move on with her life pretty easily.

Follieri ended up going to prison in America for almost four years, then he was deported to Italy and banned from ever returning to the US. It seems he’s still hustling. He gave a lengthy interview to the Daily Mail about his new businesses, his plans and what he thinks of Anne.

Anne called him a god: For four years a besotted Anne Hathaway would tell just about anyone who listened that her charismatic boyfriend Raffaello Follieri was ‘a god’. Not only was he, she gushed, ‘sooooo good looking’, but the dashing Italian property developer treated her much like her fictional character in The Princess Diaries, the film that launched her glittering career as a teenager. It was, he says, a ‘fiery’ relationship with passionate flare-ups, passionate make-ups, and many gifts including stunning sapphire and diamond earrings, an emerald and pearl Cartier necklace, and a topaz diamond cuff bracelet. Hathaway, in turn, gave him ‘a cute’ plastic sculptured green frog, the sort that in fairy tales turns into a handsome prince when kissed by a princess.

What he thinks of that relationship: ‘I was 25 years old when we met [in 2004]. We had a lot of happy, happy times. I thought nothing was the limit for me,’ says Follieri, today, in this exclusive interview. ‘I remember one evening when Annie (his name for Hathaway) was filming in another country, I was in the apartment [on the 47th floor of the Olympic Tower with views of Central Park] looking out of this amazing window and feeling I could do anything I wanted.’

Being arrested for fraud in 2008: ‘That night Annie phoned me from Los Angeles where she was doing Press [for the movie Get Smart],’ he says. ‘We were on the phone for ten minutes talking about when she might come home. If I remember, Annie’s last words were “I love you for ever” and we ended the call. That was 2am on June 24, 2008. At 6am I was arrested. I never spoke to Annie again.’

He’s still hurt: Follieri insists he harbours no bitterness towards Hathaway, but the hurt is writ on his face. Since his arrest, he has had zero communication from the woman he loved, not even a note of support as he ‘broke into a thousand pieces’ in jail. ‘Never, never, never,’ he says. ‘I think she made a business decision. She decided saving her career was most important. I am not bitter. You can look in my eyes. I don’t have anger but I’ve been hurt.’

He’s married now: He is now happily married to Konstantina, a friend from New York who stood by him throughout his years in prison. They have homes in Milan and Athens, a four-year-old son, Pasquale, and are expecting a daughter any day. ‘If there’s one positive that has come out of this, it’s understanding you need to have the right person next to you — someone you trust. I trusted the wrong people. Konstantina came to see me throughout the four years. My wife is a heart person. She really cares for me, not for what I have or what I can afford. If tomorrow I decided to go and live a simple life, she would be OK with it. But now I keep my business and private assets very separate. If I charter a jet for personal use, I pay for it myself. I live the life my private resources allow me to live. I charter boats. I love sailing — there is something magical about it. You want to condemn me for that?’

Anne never talked to him in jail: ‘Like some sort of animal I was left in under 10 degrees in the cold with one T-shirt and one pair of plastic pants,’ he says. ‘I stopped eating, probably for eight days. It was a dark time. If she [Hathaway] had wanted to contact me, she knew how to reach me through my family and my friends.’ She didn’t. ‘We’d been fighting a lot, as lots of couples do, but we were still in a relationship. I was broken in a thousand pieces.

[From The Daily Mail]

So, I actually reread part of the 2008 Vanity Fair story, and their sources said at the time that Anne had halfway broken up with him just days before his arrest. His arrest didn’t come out of the blue, remember that? The walls had been closing in on him for weeks. People were putting the pieces together about his cons. The FBI was clearly going to arrest him, it was just a matter of when. And that’s when Anne dumped him. And yes, she did it to save herself, to save her career and reputation. She never looked back! What was she supposed to do, stick by her con man boyfriend? No.

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Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

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44 Responses to “Raffaello Follieri never spoke to Anne Hathaway again after his arrest in 2008”

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  1. EllenOlenska says:

    That was such a self serving “I have learned nothing from this incident” interview from him. Much less half of it was a plug for his new venture complete with name dropping. Worst of all, idiots like this keep getting second chances while Anne gets dragged for doing all the heavy lifting at the Oscars and being “too much”

    When I was younger I really thought that a lot of misogynistic behavior had been stamped out. The last ten years remind me that it certainly hasn’t. Ugh.

  2. pollyv says:

    Did you really need to bring this up again? It seems like you just want to embarrass Anne again. Leave her alone and don’t give this grifter any more time.

    • Kacy says:

      Yeah, I don’t like how it’s portrayed that she cut him off to save herself vs. realized their whole relationship was a lie and felt betrayed.

  3. SarahCS says:

    I had totally forgotten this and I absolutely don’t blame her for walking away. If he’s lied to that many people on such a grand scale how can you trust him?? I’ll give the VF coverage a read when I have some time as I’d love to go back over it.

    • AMA1977 says:

      She was 21 when they met and 25 when he got arrested. Still so young! And Anne has always had a kind of innocent quality about her, I am sure she was horrified when she found out what was happening and got away any way she could. Why are we casting blame on her for ghosting a con-man who had used her connections and credentials to commit crimes? She did exactly what she should have done and shouldn’t feel any shame about it. I know Anne isn’t a favorite here, but when are we going to stop blaming women for the things men do?

      • Vavavoom says:

        Exactly!!
        And just to add, the Anne hate is ridiculous. She is a talented actress, who is beautiful and she seems really nice. She also seems to work really hard and take her job seriously. I don’t understand why people hate her so much.

      • tealily says:

        I’m glad to see that 100% of these comments are Team Anne.

  4. KMAC says:

    Clearly he still holds a torch for her. And there is a massive difference between how he (still) feels about Hathaway and how he feels about his wife: she is good to “him” 🙄 she would be fine with whatever “he” would want to do🙄 what mess this guy was and still is. I remember this scandal, she absolutely left him to save herself and her career, good for her!

  5. Norman Bates' Mother says:

    This quote about his relationship with Anne is a written equivalent of that picture Justin Timberlake posted for Jessica Biel but it showed mostly his face: “Annie was in another country and I was in my super expensive apartment, looking out my giant window, thinking how amazing I am, that’s how I loved Annie…” Narcissist much?

    • Lily says:

      🤣 spot on.

    • Esmom says:

      It also reminded me of Don Junior saying he almost cried driving past Arlington Cemetery thinking about all the sacrifices his family was making so his dad could be POTUS.

    • Vavavoom says:

      I can’t believe they don’t hear themselves LOL It’s so transparent!

      And I gained huge respect for Anne in that moment of her life. She knew what he was doing was wrong, she made a clean cut and moved on with her life. I think she was very strong and smart at a time when many would not be.

  6. sa says:

    I don’t doubt that Anne Hathaway wanted to save her reputation and career, but I’m not sure I believe that was the main reason for her breaking up with him and cutting off contact. Learning that the person you’ve been in a years long relationship with is a fraud and not who you believed they were is, by itself, a pretty compelling reason to cut someone out of your life, even without the potential impact on career or reputation. (not saying her career wasn’t a factor, just that I wouldn’t dismiss the impact of his complete betrayal).

    • WingKingdom says:

      Exactly! Here he is whining about how she didn’t give him “support” when he was in jail, that he “trusted the wrong people.” Well you were never who you said you were! You lied to her for 4 years! She is the one who trusted the wrong person.

      You turn out to be a lying fraud, you get ghosted buddy.

    • North of Boston says:

      Exactly! Why should she be there for him when she had no idea who HE was? He’d lied, misrepresented himself, defrauded people to live a lavish lifestyle.

      Her image may have factored into it, but mostly it was probably just a case of her realizing their entire relationship was build on sand, everything of “meaning” between them was based on lies or some long con he was pulling; he disrespected her so much that he lied to her and also that he was a creepy horrible person and criminal.

      There was nothing real to save and why waste another second of your life lending ‘support’ to someone who’d played you for a fool and lied?

    • lucy2 says:

      I’ll add another EXACTLY!
      He lied to her and fooled her (I forgot she was that young when they got together) and when she found out the truth, she was done.

      He was in a prison in PA, a friend of mine worked there at the time. They’ve had a few famous/infamous inmates there.

    • hoopjumper says:

      Totally agree. If anything, I think it shows maturity on her part that she didn’t let herself be further manipulated. Not sure I would have been smart enough to make a clean break at the same age.

    • Livvers says:

      +1

    • tealily says:

      Yeah, he sort of glosses right over that bit about “we’d been fighting a lot.” I’m gonna guess that whatever those fights were about had a little something to do with Anne’s behavior upon his arrest too. He thinks he’s making her look sh**ty here, but he’s just telling on himself. Did he reach out to her? Did he give her any explanation? I’m guessing no.

    • jwoolman says:

      Yea, it is very likely that she had begun to doubt his claims herself and was pulling away from him. Once you realize someone has been lying to you about anything important, the relationship is often already over.

      Even if she were a cashier at Target, her best move would have been to just cut him off entirely after the arrest, which probably just confirmed all her own suspicions.

      If he was in custody, he would be no danger to her if he took her disbelief badly, so it was a logical time to do it. Doubt that it was just a “career move”.

  7. Hyperbolme says:

    What a self-serving attempt to glom onto any headlines his reference to Anne could garner.

    He knows he’s of no interest to anyone without that association.

  8. Jennifer Smith says:

    Just swanning in to say the comments are spot on. Love CB commenters!

  9. Lily says:

    He’s gaslighting and manipulating.

    HE was heartbroken. HE was betrayed. HE trusted the wrong people. Everyone else is at fault for abandoning him in jail. It’s their ethics that are questionable, not his.

    He says his wife would love him if he was poor, implying Anne was only with him for his money. Thus it’s her fault he had to con his way to get money in order to keep Anne.

    He needs everyone to know he’s a ‘god’, apparently, in the eyes of others.

    Classic narcissist 101.

    • terra says:

      Exactly. This is textbook narcissist behavior, something I know well from growing up with a mother with NPD.

      Nothing is ever a narcissist’s fault, someone else is always to blame. They’re naught but poor little lambs who’ve wandered too far from the flock. It is never-ending and exhausting beyond belief. Once the initial charm offensive wears off it gets old quick.

    • Lena says:

      Yes classic narcissist 101 and classic gaslighting 101. In case there are any young Zs on here who haven’t run into any yet read his interview to beware of any that might come into your path.

    • cleak says:

      I love his mention of the jewelry he purchased for her- the jewelry that was later seized because it was purchased with ill-gotten funds… What an asshole.

      I don’t blame Anne one little bit for leaving him behind.

  10. girl_ninja says:

    What a manipulative crybaby. He’s a con man who got caught and had to pay for his crimes. I thinks is great that Anne got out when she did and left him behind without a backwards glance.

    His poor wife must know that he is still hung up on Anne because he is still bitter about Anne not calling and coming to visit him in the clinker.

  11. Ana says:

    Looks like an Italian Zach Braff. That is all.

  12. DS9 says:

    He lied to her over and over again and used her name, connections, and career as part of his veneer of legitimacy. If that doesn’t call for a total ghosting, I don’t know what does.

    And it was smart as hell because grifters stay grifting. It kept him from being able to siphon off anything further from her. Idk if she held firm on her own or listened to good advice but I deeply admire her for handling him this way. She was just a baby back then too.

    People older and wiser have struggled to cut off the well deserving under less predatory circumstances.

    • Julia K says:

      I also believe she listened to good advice. Lawyers may have told her to keep her mouth shut and sever all contact.

  13. Normades says:

    Just want to add that “Annie” is not HIS name for her, everyone calls her that. Anne is just her professionnel name.

  14. Winnie Cooper’s Mom says:

    Thank God she didn’t marry and/or procreate with this pathological liar! On top of all his formal indiscretions and lawbreaking, he was emotionally abusive. Proud of her for making a clean break and never looking back. He needs to stop dropping her name for headlines. Still a complete assh0le.

  15. jferber says:

    What is this crazy fantasy of being locked up in under 10 degree weather just wearing a T shirt and plastic pants ” like an animal” ? Dude, animals don’t wear T- shirts and plastic pants. Did this supposed event take place in Siberia? Jeez. I remember the FBI put Anne through the ringer and she returned jewelry to the FBI which was somehow associated with the Pope? None of that is any joke and why in the world would she ever contact him again? More women should act like her. Like Maya Angelou famously said, “When a person shows you who they are, believe them the first time.” Good advice to all women.

  16. Sarah I says:

    Julia K, I think you are right. I think she did have excellent advice on how to get out of a horrid situation that had the potential of great damage to her emotionally, personally and career wise.

    Another thought I had was that she had loved him a great deal, and maybe she didn’t trust herself to talk to him. Maybe she thought that the only way she could do it was a clean cut.

  17. Call_Me_Al says:

    What a chump this guy is! He lied to her and everyone else for years, spun a web of extortion and fraud which included her for years, and HE’S the victim. Narcissism at its most classic form.

  18. Christine says:

    Dear Anne Hathaway,

    I am 46, and I did not remember one bit of this, until this article. This is not on you, at all.

    Don’t believe a publicist if they tell you to make a comment.

  19. Mina_Esq says:

    I don’t know, both sound like a-holes to me. People can lie about certain things, but you can’t hide your personality for 4 years. She was attracted to that, but I totally appreciate that being a criminal was a step too far for her. This reinforces my dislike of Anne.

  20. Kat says:

    Does anyone else remember that weird rumour that Anne said that she ‘loved anal sex because it made her feel feminine’ or something? lol

  21. MangoAngelesque says:

    Did she really leave him “to save her herself…her career…her reputation,” or did she leave him because she discovered he’d been grossly lying to her their entire relationship, so much so that she was forcibly dragged into a FEDERAL INVESTIGATION?? A very public federal investigation, at that. If that isn’t grounds for a breakup, what is? And why should she look back or call him in prison or anything like that? He dragged her through hell because he was trying to pull a bunch of cons instead of being who he told her he was.

    She did what any self-respecting woman should do: she gtfo of there and didn’t let herself risk looking back.