Game over, man. The cat is out of the bag. We now know that the Joaquin Phoenix rapper thing – the whole thing – and the movie I’m Still Here was a “hoax.” Remember Joaquin’s appearance on the David Letterman show? Letterman wasn’t in on it. Ouchies!

Twitter guru Roger Ebert has all of the fascinating details. According to Ebert the movie should be considered a work of fiction which means that Phoenix could be eligible for an Academy Award nomination. (Assuming, of course, that his performance so dictates.)

I haven’t seen the movie but my wife and I both like Joaquin so we’ll probably check it out.

Why do I get the feeling that this movie was born of an idea discussed over drinks where someone said, “You know what would be funny? Pretend that Joaquin drops out of acting to become a rapper. That would be hilarious! Then we could make a documentary about it.”

Someone else then presumably said, “I agree! That is one hella of a good idea!”

“Let’s do it!”

“Bet!”

One thing is certain. I have little doubt that Andy Kaufman would have loved it. A lot.