The internet is a strange place. It's filled with so many bizarre news stories that you might find yourself growing increasingly numb to the absurdity. But you probably have to do a double take after reading the headline, “DICAPRIO RAPED BY BEAR IN FOX MOVIE.”
Yes, that's a real headline from The Drudge Report. And the birth of the DiCaprio bear-rape myth.
"The new movie 'REVENANT' features a shocking scene of a wild bear raping Leo DiCaprio!" Drudge writes. "The explicit moment from Oscar winning director Alejandro Iñárritu has caused maximum controversy in early screenings. Some in the audience escaped to the exits when the Wolf of Wall Street met the Grizzly of Yellowstone."
Despite being the most insane, ridiculous, and all-around bonkers story ever, it's spread like wildfire across the internet. In fact, the rumors became so terrible – and weird– that Fox Studios had to step in.
“As anyone who has seen the movie can attest, the bear in the film is a female who attacks Hugh Glass because she feels he might be threatening her cubs,” a Fox spokesperson told Entertainment Weekly. “There is clearly no rape scene with a bear.”
The bear attack has been featured heavily in the marketing campaign for The Revenant, and it looks grizzly (sorry for the pun). But there's not a single moment when DiCaprio is sexually assaulted by a bear.
Vanity Fair pointed out that the bear-rape rumor may have stemmed from veteran Hollywood journalist Roger Friedman.
“The bear flips [DiCaprio’s character] over on his belly and molests him– dry humps him actually– as he nearly devours him,” Friedman wrote in his review of the film on his blog Showbiz411.
Regardless of where it started, this is the weirdest rumor of the day, nay, of the year. Yes, DiCaprio had a grueling experience filming this movie. And yes, that bear fight looks intense. But do you really think DiCaprio is so desperate for an Oscar that he was suddenly open to bestiality?
Hopefully you answered "no" to that one. Clearly this bear-rape rumor is a myth. Now go home internet, you're drunk.