By Matthew B. Zeidman
NEW YORK (RUSHPRNEWS)10/7/08– Anne Hathaway hosted “Saturday Night Live” with courage and style, kicking off the show by unflinchingly tackling the elephant in the room. The star of “The Princess Diaries” dedicated her opening monologue to poking fun at her public breakup with disgraced businessman Raffaello Follieri, doing her best to play the part of the easily deceived damsel.
“I just had a busy summer,” Hathaway began. “I did some traveling. I have a new movie out, called ‘Rachel Getting Married.’ Oh, and also, I broke up with my Italian boyfriend, and, two weeks later, he was sent to prison for fraud.”
After mockingly assuming female audience members had had the same experience at some point in their lives, the 25-year-old “Get Smart” actress proceeded to share her latest foray into romance.
“So, the experience made me feel pretty gullible, and I was ready to swear off dating, but then I found an amazing new guy,” Hathaway joked. “We met on the Internet. I usually don’t read letters from strangers, but how often do you get an e-mail from a Nigerian prince?”
Hathaway detailed her faux beau’s sweet gestures, such as asking her for her Social Security number, as well as $100,000 in cash. The gag was a takeoff on the so-called “409” scam, where a criminal, usually posing as a foreign socialite or dignitary, attempts to fool his mark into providing money or disclosing sensitive financial information.
The initial contact with the potential victim is usually made via a clearly phony e-mail or fax not addressed to anyone in particular.
Follieri was arrested in June for allegedly tricking investors into thinking he could arrange the sale of property owned by the Catholic Church at a substantial discount through connections at the Vatican.
He plead guilty in September to charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud and money laundering and is awaiting sentencing. Hathaway dated Follieri for four years and was living with him in a posh Manhattan apartment until their breakup shortly before his arrest.
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