As you learned from the Spielster earlier this week,Joaquin Phoenix has apparently given up on his pursuit of being one of his generation’s greatest actors for a rap career. Personally,I always thought this “career reinvention”reeked of Andy Kaufman style prank on a major scale. Ya know like Punked,but just hipster style?

Well according to a few people close Phoenix,this is exactly whats going on. Entertainment Weekly reported yesterday that the actor,with support from his brother-in-law and partner in crime Casey Affleck,plotted this scheme to mock their fellow celebrities and the media that covers them. According to the sources,the career change is an “art project for him.”
And apparently he has gone so far to cover his bases with the hoax that he has even his representatives and publicists believing the change. This makes the statement that Phoenix’s publicist gave to MTV News today even more interesting. According to the statement,“It should come as no surprise to anyone that Joaquin came from a musical family,in addition to winning a Golden Globe for his portrayal of Johnny Cash. He intends on exploring his musical interests despite speculative,negative or positive reactions.”

If its a true story and not an elaborate hoax like we all think,I would begin to worry about Phoenix’s sanity or if his past issues with drugs have returned back to his life because this career transition makes about as much sense as me being the next Rachel Ray. And whatever the true story is,I can honestly say that if this is a hoax,I hope that Hollywood doesn’t open their arms right away for him and his imminent return. Because as a pop culture fanatic,one thing that pisses me off more than anything is when celebrities begin to think they are too good for what they do and want to pull a trick on essentially the people who pay their bills,their fans! I can’t say I don’t think this is a freaking hilarious idea,but I don’t like the fact that this was thought up to poke fun at his audience and fans.