MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — Joaquin Phoenix appears to be getting into the act of being a petulant hip-hop star. The actor-turned-musician jumped off the stage during a performance at the LIV nightclub early Thursday and confronted an audience member who was heckling him.
The club opened at 10:30 p.m. Wednesday, and Phoenix had left fans cooling their heels for nearly four hours before he came out on stage just before 2 a.m. He began rapping to a beat played by the DJ and nodding to the music, although most of the lyrics were unintelligible.
When someone appeared to heckle him, he jumped into the crowd. It was not immediately clear whether the two men exchanged blows. Phoenix was escorted away by security guards.
The spectacle struck many in the audience as the latest prank in a farce staged by Phoenix. Actor Casey Affleck filmed the incident and is making a documentary about Phoenix’s career shift.
Affleck’s camera “was filming the whole time, so it makes me think he has ulterior motives,” said Luis Gendron, 23, of Miami.
