The internet can be a strange place.
Toxic fandom is real, and social media will run with the most unfounded rumor when fans love (or hate) the trajectory of a show’s central character. One of those rumors has been circling since Season 2 of “The Pitt,” the HBO Max medical drama that returned in January, with unsubstantiated claims that star and executive producer Noah Wyle had a behind-the-scenes feud with the newest cast member, Sepideh Moafi, who plays Dr. Baran Al-Hashimi, the attending physician who arrives as Dr. Robby’s interim replacement ahead of his sabbatical. The fan-fiction theory held that Dr. Al-Hashimi’s arc was a form of retribution for the supposed off-screen rift.
Speaking with Variety on Zoom from her apartment in New York City, Moafi shuts it down without hesitation.
“Absolutely not,” she says. “I do not have that power. We’re really great colleagues. Noah and I have always had a great working relationship, which is why it actually felt safe to do the darker, dirtier work in episode 15, particularly because, between setups, we were shooting the shit and laughing. So that’s completely false that there’s a personal sort of beef or rivalry between us, at least not that I’m aware of. You can check with Noah, but I don’t know about this.”
