It’s the photo that’s been seen about a kajillion times—Brad Pitt sporting a Chiefs hat on the red carpet at the SAG Awards on Sunday. But how did it all come about? We got the 411 from one of the instigators, Shea Armentrout.
Seems Armentrout and her cousin Kyli Maddox (and their respective moms) were in the exact right place at exactly the right time. Well, that—and lots of rambunctious yelling to get Pitt’s attention certainly didn’t hurt. Here’s the story in Armentrout’s own words:
“This is the second time we’ve gone to the SAG Awards. My cousin found the tix through a charity-auction website. You make a donation and have to put in a bid—almost like an eBay auction. If you have the highest bid, you win the tickets. We went in 2018 as well. So we won the tickets through CharityBuzz, and my cousin Kyli and I took our moms with us. We’re all from Kansas City—born and raised here—and we have a huge family here. We’re all big Chiefs fans.
We won the tickets a few months back before we knew the Chiefs would be in the AFC Championship, but we figured they would get there because, of course, we believed in them. When we realized the events would be on the same day, my cousin Kyli had the idea to bring Chiefs hats with us—just in the hopes we would see Brad Pitt or get his attention. We thought we might see Paul Rudd too—but he was at the game here in Kansas City.
Brad was one of the last people to walk the red carpet. The big, big movie stars come in right at the last minute. At that point, we knew the Chiefs had won because we were streaming the game on our phone while we were waiting for the event to start. So anxious, so excited. And when we saw that we won, we were sporting our Chiefs hats through most of the event and just thought it would be funny to be in the background of some photos and have the Chiefs represented.
So when the time came and Brad got closer to us, my aunt—who has no shame—she’s the one who really yelled to get his attention. Like, she held the hat out and yells, ‘Chiefs! Chiefs! Missouri! Ozarks! Springfield!’ She just kept yelling. I mean, we are all just big fans of Brad Pitt—who isn’t really, right? He grew up in the Midwest, too. The way he carries himself. He’s humble and gracious. You can see it in his reaction. My aunt somehow gets his attention when all these other fans and camera people are yelling his name.
When he saw it, he was kinda surprised and shocked. He bowed a little bit and gave us a thumbs-up. My cousin Kyli yells, ‘It’s for you!’ My aunt tossed it—it was a great toss—right to him. And he puts it on! And I love how he put it on like a professional athlete would—where they kind of bend the hat and shape it. Very ceremonial. That was so fun.
We were standing there in shock. My mom and I were standing there clapping and started jumping up and down. I did the Arrowhead chop a couple times. It was just a blur! We couldn’t believe he stopped, wore the hat and continued to wear the hat down the red carpet.
Funny thing, while it was happening, other people were working on the red carpet—camera people and security—they all got a kick out of it. They couldn’t believe we pulled it off and were high-fiving us afterwards. Even later on, during the ceremony, when they showed shots of different tables for the acting ensemble, they flashed to his table—the Once Upon A Time In Hollywood table. They didn’t win, but you can see the hat in front of him on the table. He. Kept. It. With. Him. That was really cool. Sorta unreal. But he did win for Best Supporting Actor—score! And he had a great speech! So, that’s how it happened.
Two of our fave things came together that day: a Chiefs win after all these years—they’re
going to the Super Bowl! And Brad Pitt—a Missouri native—supporting them! It was a dream come true. I’m just in awe. Something I’ll never forget—ever.”
Want to know more? Watch Access Hollywood tonight when Armentrout’s cousin Kyli will be featured in an upcoming interview. Oh, and hey, Brad Pitt—when you read this—hook the girls up with tickets to the Oscars, please. We’d appreciate it. They’ll probably bring you a Mahomes jersey to wear, eh?