Earlier this week, Joaquin Phoenix created headlines after walking out of Todd Haynes’ untitled gay romantic drama five days before it was to start shooting.
There is nothing incongruous about actors walking out of a project. However, Joaquin Phoenix’s exit from the movies has created waves after Variety, citing a source, reported the actor got “cold feet” over the s*xually explicit storyline.
This has confounded many people in the industry. Last year, the director of the intense gay romance, Todd Ahynes, said, “The whole experience was prompted by Joaquin,” adding that the Joker Star pushed for the film to be as graphic as possible.
In addition, Joaquin Phoenix’s walkout from the project he originated five days ago could leave many people on the hook financially. Besides Borderlands’ bombing at the box office, Joaquin Phoenix’s walkout of a film could be the biggest controversy to come out of showbiz this year.
The actor known for playing a brooding, embittered, and sometimes downright insane character ( Joker) has been involved in some wild controversies over the years. Here are the other four Joaquin Phoenix’s most controversial moments.
When Joaquin Phoenix walked out of an interview with The Telegraph’s film critic Robbie Collin
Joaquin Phoenix has a history of walking out on people. Before Todd Haynes, Phoenix walked out of a 2020 interview with The Telegraph’s film critic Robbie Collin after Collin asked the actor whether he thought his character in “Joker” might inspire people to start acting like “an unstable, self-pitying loner with a mass-shooter mindset.”
Collins wasn’t alone in his criticism at the time. Several people raised concerns about the film’s potential to provoke violence in a trigger-happy America. However, Joaquin Phoenix never addressed the controversy. He walked out of the interview and returned moments later after speaking with Warner Bros. representatives.
Joaquin Phoenix Golden Globes Controversy
In 2020, Joaquin Phoenix took home the Golden Globe for his role in “Joker,” but not without stirring up some drama. After accepting the award, the actor, who has been a sceptic of award shows, declared, “There is no f—ing best actor” before dropping multiple F-bombs.
He then gave a rambling speech parsing the globes for switching to vegan meals and spoke at length about the link between agriculture and climate change. He then chastised fellow nominees for taking private jets from L.A. to Palm Springs to avoid traffic and asked them to do better while promising to do the same.
When Joaquin Phoenix Rubbed Robert De Niro the Wrong Way During ‘Joker’
In an interview, director Todd Phillips revealed that Robert De Niro and Joaquin Phoenix clashed creatively on set after Phoenix declined to do read-throughs with De Niro. The Taxi Driver actor was reportedly so frustrated with Phoenix that he called Phillips, asking him to tell Phoenix that “he’s an actor and he’s got to be there. I like to hear the whole movie, and we’re going to all get in a room and just read it.”
When Joaquin Phoenix was accused of being complicit in best friend Casey Affleck’s alleged predatory behaviour.
During the late 2000s, Phoenix and Casey Affleck worked together on a mockumentary. Years later, two women in the entire crew for the movie accused Affleck of s*xually assaulting them on the set. One of the women alleged Joaquin Phoenix and Affleck locked themselves in her room with two other women and prevented her from coming inside the room. It is unclear what transpired in the room. But the woman alleged Phoenix was allegedly complicit in Affleck’s alleged predatory behavior.
