Joaquin Phoenix's Hip-Hop Hoax?

BY Brock ThiessenPublished Jan 29, 2009

If you thought the news of Joaquin Phoenix's newly launched rap career seemed a little too far-fetched to be true, it appears you're right. According to two sources close to the Walk the Line star, the whole the thing is a "put-on" and comes as part of some elaborate "art project." (C'mon, like you didn't see this coming.)

As previously reported, Phoenix had recently announced that he's done with Hollywood and set his sights on a new career in hip-hop. This transformation was to then be the subject of a new documentary filmed by his brother-in-law Casey Affleck, who has already caught this prime bit of footage involving Phoenix going through an apparent meltdown at a Las Vegas show. And just in case this wasn't already ridiculous enough, Phoenix told us P. Diddy was supposedly on board to do his first album, which was to be the doc's centrepiece.

Well, two friends of Phoenix have now weighed in on this fiasco, with one telling Entertainment Weekly: "He said, 'It's a put-on. I'm going to pretend to have a meltdown and change careers, and Casey is going to film it.'"

Another source added that Phoenix considers the whole thing an "art project," one that the actor is taking very seriously. "He's going full out. He probably has told his reps that he's quit acting. Joaquin is very smart. This is very conscious. He has a huge degree of control," the source said.

Now, whether this is all truly a hoax is yet to be seen. But either way, it appears for the next while we'll get to witness Phoenix looking like a bloated Jim Morrison and pulling off stunts like this:

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