‘Anatomy Of A Fall’s Messi The Dog Became The Subject Of A Bizarre Conspiracy That A ‘Lookalike’ Actually Attended The Oscars

While everyone on the internet has turned into an amateur sleuth regarding a peculiarly edited photograph, the real investigators are the ones trying to figure out if Messi the dog was actually at the Oscars over the weekend.

The star of Anatomy of a Fall has been making the rounds this awards season, though not everyone has been happy about it. It was reported that Messi would not appear at the Academy Awards, which naturally caused riots in the streets, but then Messi’s handler shared a photo of the two en route to Hollywood, it seemed that he really would be there. Or so we thought.

The Hollywood Reporter’s Chris Gardner posted a video of who he claimed to be a Messi lookalike practicing his role of “audience member” in rehearsal. It shows a group of audience members seemingly pre-taping a segment of Messi “clapping.”

But Messi’s owner/handler confirmed that it was the iconic pup, despite reports that he would not attend the ceremony.

Gardner did get one thing right, though: his “paws” were definitely actors.

This is just the tip of the iceberg for Messi, who is a controversial dog actor (all the best ones are). According to The Hollywood Reporter, “multiple companies” with nominated films complained to the Academy that allowing Messi to attend pre-Oscars events “gave Anatomy of a Fall an advantage during the voting window.” It didn’t seem to work that well, considering that Anatomy Of A Fall didn’t take home the big prize, though Justine Triet did revive the award for Best Original Screenplay.

Meanwhile, Kurt Russell’s dog has been basking in his dog nepotism moment. The two should share their tricks.