Uh-oh.
Late-night TV host, Jimmy Kimmel, has found himself in some hot water after people are saying that he "bullied" Joaquin Pheonix in a recent interview.
YouTube | Jimmy Kimmel Live
People Are Calling Jimmy Kimmel A 'Bully' After 'Uncomfortable' Interview With Joaquin Phoenix
The highly-anticipated movie "The Joker" *finally* hits theaters this weekend!
In anticipation of its release, the film's notoriously private star, Joaquin Phoenix has been making the media rounds.
Getty Images | Axelle/Bauer-Griffin
This included a stop at "Jimmy Kimmel Live" where you would expect a funny, light-hearted interview.
Instead, things proceeded to get super uncomfortable, super quick.
YouTube | Jimmy Kimmel Live
That's because fans are saying that Kimmel "bullied" the actor.
For starters, fans pointed out that Kimmel made fun of his dancing.
Pheonix had surprised Jimmy and the audience when he revealed that he grew up dancing (apparently he has a wicked dancing scene in the movie).
His favorite? Breakdancing.
YouTube | Jimmy Kimmel Live
Things were all fine and dandy, but then the interview took its first real downhill slope once Jimmy asked if Joaquin would ever breakdance out in the street for people to see.
Phoenix responded with "sometimes," but then said that it was "more personal."
YouTube | Jimmy Kimmel Live
"Yeah I like to keep it for myself like a personal expression and I didn't need kind of like adoration, I didn't need people to validate me. It's just something I felt inside expressly."
This caused Jimmy to then crack a joke about Joaquin breakdancing alone in his room with a piece of cardboard.
His demeanor totally changed.
He did not look pleased with Jimmy making light of his breakdancing, which is clearly a form of personal expression for him.
Joaquin just looked super uncomfortable from that point on.
YouTube | Jimmy Kimmel Live
He never really recovered before Jimmy did the next thing that really pissed people off.
That hurtful thing was Jimmy surprising Joaquin with a clip of him swearing at a crew member.
YouTube | Jimmy Kimmel Live
The footage ended up being an outtake sent by the film's director, Todd Phillips.
It showed Joaquin swearing at the film's cinematographer, Lawrence Sher, while he was trying to film a scene.
In the vid, it led to Lawrence comparing Joaquin to Cher and saying that he was acting like a diva.
YouTube | Jimmy Kimmel Live
The video ended super dramatically with Joaquin storming off set.
Now, though, it's been confirmed that the footage is fake.
According to ET, representatives for the actor confirmed “that it was a joke.”
That's just for the outtake clip, though.
It hasn't been confirmed yet if the other uncomfortable parts of the interview were also staged.
But at that moment, without full context, it was sooo hard for fans to see Joaquin so visibly upset.
Twitter | @yetpending
"This is so embarrassing," he said.
He also went on to explain that making movies can "feel intense," while also mentioning that that clip was supposed to be private.
Naturally, the uncomfortable situation led to some strong reactions online.
Twitter | @itsbrookeluv
"This jimmy kimmel interview with joaquin phoenix is awkward af what was he thinking sharing that outtake video #smh" one wrote.
Another person said that the whole thing made them "feel sick" to their stomach.
Twitter | @kimbourgeois241
Yikes.
Someone else wrote that what happened is a reminder of why they don't watch Jimmy's show anymore.
Some people are not on Joaquin's side.
Especially after an interview with director Todd Phillips for The New York Times came out where Phillips implied that diva-like behavior was not uncommon from Joaquin.
Phillips said that Joaquin would often just leave scenes.
"In the middle of the scene, he’ll just walk away and walk out. And the poor other actor thinks it’s them and it was never them — it was always him, and he just wasn’t feeling it," Phillips explained.
Interestingly, there was one exception to this behavior.
According to The Times, Joaquin never once exhibited this behavior while shooting with Robert De Niro, which lead some people to believe he was totally capable of controlling himself around an actor he respected.
Others felt that Phillips was maybe being too harsh on Joaquin.
Perhaps, like in the clip that Jimmy showed, there was more to it than we initially thought.
Of course, not everyone was fooled.
Other people figured that it was staged from the get-go. They believed that it was just Joaquin pulling off another "Letterman" interview.
If you don't know what that means, basically back in 2009, David Letterman and Joquain ended up having one of the most bizarre interviews of all time.
It was seriously bizarre.
In the end, it turned out that the whole thing was a hoax on Joaquin's part for his documentary, I’m Still Here.
So with Joaquin now staging that uncomfortable clip on "Jimmy Kimmel," it looks like the joke is on us...again!
Man, what a joker that guy is...get it?
Okay, we'll show ourselves out now.
"Joker" has hit now theaters.
Will you be watching?
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