Last year, Joaquin Phoenix said “Bye! Good” to Hollywood in favor of a rap career. Not the smartest of moves, if I only thought he was serious.

Earlier this month, an unshaven Joaquin did an interview with David Letterman where he barely spoke, looked and sounded high, and seemed really out of it. For good measure, he put his gum on the desk when Dave questioned him about it:

Ben Stiller and Natalie Portman were presenting at the Oscars on Sunday, with Ben dressed up as Joaquin in a huge furry beard and sunglasses.

Ben was poking fun at Joaquin for his Letterman appearance, with Natalie in on the joke, of course. When Natalie points out his gum chewing, he takes it out and puts it on the podium.

While Dave Letterman, Ben Stiller, Natalie Portman, and the rest of the world are picking on Joaquin, it appears that the joke just might be on us.

An insider says, “Joaquin wanted this, of course he knew (about the parodies) because it’s all part of a very strategic plan. He is selling it all as a documentary not about his music career but the whole issue of public persona. It’s all a big joke and he’s not pursuing rapping seriously no matter what he says. Ben was just going along with the joke that Joaquin started. He wasn’t poking fun at him, there are no hard feelings.”

I don’t know for sure (like anyone else) how true any of these hijinks are or if Joaquin really has a problem. I’d like to hope, for his sake, that it’s all a really good ruse and he’s in on it.

[Source: Fox News]