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When Joaquin Phoenix was on David Letterman's Late Show last week, he became the latest celeb to turn a Letterman appearance into a spectacularly awkward freak show, joining a list of greats that includes Madonna, Courtney Love, Paula Abdul, and Paris Hilton. Take a look at these infamous moments and more in the clips below on Burner to see who deserves the title of the all-time strangest.

As for Joaquin, only one thing is certain: The man can grow a good beard. A full, thick face bush that brings to mind Grizzly Adams in the wild, Jim Morrison in Paris, or Matisyahu on his way to temple. That's clear. What's less clear after his appearance on Letterman is what's going on under the beard.


Joaquin has been saying for the last few months that he's quitting acting for music, specifically for a career as a rapper. In January, he celebrated this news by getting on the mic in Las Vegas and promptly falling off the stage. On hand was Casey Affleck, who's been filming Joaquin for the past few months for a documentary.The speculation that it's all a bit of performance art for Affleck's camera was only fueled by Joaquin's appearance on Letterman to promote what may or may not be his final movie, Two Lovers. He seemed out-of-it and generally unable to put a sentence together, causing many people to wonder if this isn't an Andy Kaufman-esque stunt. On the other hand, Two Lovers director James Gray told MTV News that Joaquin has built a bona fide studio at his house, and was working on music the last time Gray visited. So who knows?

No one will be surprised if this all turns out to be a joke. What would be really shocking is if Joaquin Phoenix is working on some sort of Johnny Cash-Wu Tang Clan mashup in his home studio. Walk The Line meets The 36 Chambers? Joaquin, you can do it!