Remember when Joaquin Phoenix had that bizarre interview on the Letterman Show back in 2009? The Hollywood consensus was that he had finally dipped into drug abuse the same way his brother River had and the media got its usual giddy, schadenfreude-fueled thrill at watching yet another slow-motion trainwreck. Something’s gotta push the papers through the presses, right? Turns out it was a Kaufman-esque hoax, sorta. I’m not sure “hoax” is the right word for it, as Phoenix explains in the above clip. I think he wanted to experience what so many celebrities have before: to be swiftly vilified and devoured by the same media that launched you into celebrity. Celebrity watchers seem to be among the most capricious and spurious “reporters” one could come across, so I’m sure Phoenix found it pretty satisfying to play them all for fools so easily.
