Lili Reinhart has long valued her privacy as a highly-followed celeb.
But the Riverdale star recently found herself the subject of some unusual publicity, thanks to a daring impersonator.
She commented Friday on the ‘bizarre’ imposter who recently pretended to be her in an interview with Seventeen Magazine, sharing a brief statement with her 26.8million followers on her Instagram Story.
Speaking out: Lili Reinhart commented Friday on the ‘bizarre’ imposter who recently pretended to be her in an interview with Seventeen Magazine, sharing a brief statement with her 26.8million followers on her Instagram Story
The 24-year-old wrote: ‘For some bizarre reason, someone impersonated me in an interview with @Seventeen. Nothing inappropriate was said, but those were not my words and I wanted to address it.’
It came after the faux Lili shared some Riverdale spoilers about her character Betty’s romance with KJ Apa’s Archie in season five.
The fake also allegedly posed as Reinhart’s publicist, arranging at least two bogus interviews in some bizarre stunt.
Seventeen issued a statement on Twitter: ‘Today, we briefly published a story with information we were led to believe was from Lili Reinhart.
Addressing it: The 24-year-old wrote: ‘For some bizarre reason, someone impersonated me in an interview with @Seventeen. Nothing inappropriate was said, but those were not my words and I wanted to address it’
Spoiler alert: It came after the faux Lili shared some Riverdale spoilers about her character Betty’s romance with KJ Apa’s Archie in season five
‘However, it was brought to our attention that the person who contacted us was, in fact, an impersonator and had no connection to the Riverdale star. We want to sincerely apologize to Lili and her fans for this unfortunate situation.
‘We reacted swiftly by removing the story from our site and regret the erroneous reporting. We take full responsibility and will be internally reviewing our editorial and fact-checking processes to ensure something like this does not happen again.’
They weren’t the only media outlet duped by the imposter, as reporter Lucas Hill-Paul from The Daily Express revealed his recent interview was with the same fake, and they had to go through the ‘correct legal procedure’ of retracting the story.
He wrote on Twitter: ‘It’s been brought to my attention that the interview I shared with Lili Reinhart was fake, and someone has been impersonating Lili and her publicist.
‘Obviously, I’m embarrassed and quite disturbed, and sincerely apologise to anyone who was misled by the article.’
Hill-Paul followed up in another tweet: ‘Thanks for all the kind words. It’s clearly been a strange day for Riverdale fans and I can only hope my apology eventually reaches Lili herself.
Total imposter: The fake also allegedly posed as Reinhart’s publicist, arranging at least two bogus interviews in some bizarre stunt (pictured in October, 2019)
Duped: Seventeen issued a statement on Twitter: ‘Today, we briefly published a story with information we were led to believe was from Lili Reinhart’
Retraction: They weren’t the only media outlet duped by the imposter, as reporter Lucas Hill-Paul from The Daily Express revealed his recent interview was with the same fake, and they had to go through the ‘correct legal procedure’ of retracting the story (pictured in October, 2018)
‘I’m very sorry someone thought to do this to her, but it’s clear they’re in a tiny minority of those who just want to watch a fun show.’
The identity of the Hustler actress’s imposter remains a mystery, as Twitter has their fun, turning the situation into a meme.
Reinhart has long kept her private life just that, telling W Magazine in July of 2019 about her relationship with now ex Cole Sprouse: ‘At first, I didn’t want things private. Now that I’m X amount of years in, I do appreciate the privacy we have, that he’s encouraged me to take.
‘No one knows how long we’ve been together, and no one will until we’re ready to say it. No one knows how we fell in love, except for our close friends and us. It’s really special.’
She added of the uncomfortable experience of being recognized by fans: ‘I don’t handle it super well. I am a very paranoid person now because of it. I watch people watching me.
‘I look at their faces to see if they’re looking at me, if they know who I am. It’s not because I want to be recognized; I’m just trying to prepare myself. It can be startling when they come up to you when you’re not expecting it.’
Private life: Reinhart has long kept her private life just that, telling W Magazine in July of 2019 about her relationship with now ex Cole Sprouse: ‘At first, I didn’t want things private. Now that I’m X amount of years in, I do appreciate the privacy we have, that he’s encouraged me to take’