People have been debating whether Joaquin “Bye Good” Phoenix’s rap career is for real. At first, the reports were coming in that it was part of some tragic downfall of a good actor, that was going to be documented by his friend Casey Affleck. Then came the unfortunate first rap performace in Las Vegas. Then, within days, soureces close to Joaquin were insisting that the whole “rap career” thing was some sort of intensive “performance art” to show everyone how “crazy” Hollywood and the media are.

Now Joaquin is insisting that there is no hoax, no “performance art” to his rap career. He claims that the music is for real, and we should treat it as such. Yeah, right. People has the details.

Joaquin Phoenix insists he’s getting a bum rap.

“There’s not a hoax,” Phoenix tells the Associated Press of doubts about his sudden conversation from movie star to hip-hop artist. “Might I be ridiculous? Might my career in music be laughable? Yeah, that’s possible, but that’s certainly not my intention.”

Questions about his intentions surfaced after the newly bearded Phoenix, 34, took the stage in Las Vegas on Jan. 16 in an ill-fated debut of his new career. A video of his performance shows him falling off the stage, though he says it looks worse than it was.

“I had a lot of dudes come up and say, `We really respect you for doing it, putting yourself out there, and going with it,'” he tells AP. “Because I think true hip-hop heads know that it’s hard, it’s going to be a hard transition, and people are going to be lining up just to make fun of me.”

From People Magazine

I am one of the people lining up to make fun of Joaquin Phoenix, and I don’t care if he knows it. At first, I really did think it was part of some tragic undoing of a good actor. Now I just think he’s a self-absorbed, out-of-touch douche. Rap away, MC Tool.

Joaquin Phoenix is shown outside his Vegas rap performance on 1//16/08 and during the “Bye Good” appearance at the AFI Film festival on 11/1/08. Credit: PRPhotos