I agree with everything you said. Letterman's behavior was appalling; I felt sorry for Phoenix.

Nevertheless. He chose to do the show. No one forced the appearance on him. He's not been treated kindly by the media lately and for him to assume that a Letterman appearance would be hospitable at this point was a little naive. I think we have to acknowledge his responsibility in this humiliation, too. Torture victims don't generally agree to show up.

Wonderful post. I couldn't have said it better. I heard a snip of the interview on the radio and was appalled. I used to love David Letterman and his humour, but I have lost all respect for him.

If Phoenix is indeed mentally ill as it appears, his decision-making could be "off".
If he is not thinking rationally, can he really be expected to consider the implications of such an appearance? Just a thought.

i cannot stand david letterman, i find him to be arrogant but i think that entire segment was planned. if not, it was just typical david letterman being an insulting man. however, i think phoenix could hold his own and in fact did by simply answering the dopy questions.

Uh, I think it has been pretty well established that Joaquin Phoenix is trying (badly) to pull some Andy Kaufman-esque stunt in which he's blurring (transparently) the boundary between life and performance. I think he's attempting some kind of satire of the celeb/paparazzi culture. Welcome to the joke.

My guess is that Letterman caught on to the shenanigans and wasn't willing to play along.

Ok, first and foremost, it's pretty clear that Joaquin is on something.

Who goes on a talk show and doesn't talk?!? Dave is trying and tring to get a conversation going and Joaquin is giving one word answers. It's clear from the start that it's a trainwreck...and it's not Dave's fault.

And if the beard question started things off wrongly, then Joaquin is WAY too overly sensitive, even if he is going through problems. At first Dave was being his normal self, but after about 30 seconds and realizing that it was going downhill...or falling off a cliff rather, Dave had to do something to have fun with it. I don't blame him for a second. How witty was the unibomber joke?!

Does no one thing it's rude of Joaquin to go on and act the way he was??? Mental issues or not...this is 100% on Joaquin.

i think that if you go on tv messed up on pills you need to be prepared to be laughed at, it is disrespectful to go on this show f-ed up n then try to play the victim!

Letterman always acts like this.

He's not a monster: he gets paid to make fun of celebrities.

Phoenix honestly seemed "off" to me. He's either ill or an incredible actor.

I'd like to think it's the later, but either way, that was very uncomfortable to witness.

Dear Anneli,

Try not to overthink things. Your analysis has really come undone here. You're reaching for conclusions that are WAY overwrought!

Phoenix is a wonderful actor and - by the look of it - a truly sensitive soul. Was it a prank or not? Who knows?

But when I see the interview, I don't see a jeering, smug DL trying to sucker-punch a tortured young innocent.

JP knows the ropes. DL is a high-octane sell point for his upcoming film. So: 'tis not Letterman should be blamed. JP has managers, handlers, agents and producers who all have close relationships with him and could figure out to put Paltrow in the chair instead, if JP wasn't up to it. She'd sell the movie and even make sweeter ratings while JP chilled back!

Thus; JP has been offered the booking and accepted it. He comes on and makes a fool of DL (his host). It's painful. They both fry under the hot lights! But is the blame DL's? Is it the fault of an audience who wants only an hours worth of simple comedy entertainment?

DL, sure, he shot off a few below the belt. He first got puzzled, then embarassed, then pissed. He's got the entire show on his shoulders. A few silent moments can kill momentum with a fickle audience. What's JP doing on the freakin' show if he ain't gonna perform?

David Letterman is a comedian. He makes fun of the world. He's the equivalent to the jesters of old. Comedy - as you know - is the cure against psychic pain and illness. The ancients knew this, and so does Letterman.

Look at the segment again. You'll see: DL is offering JP a rope. He's saying: Let's have a few laughs, here. I love ya! I love your work!! You're the greatest!! (He says this repeatedly, trying to boost JP's spirits).

Says DL: Don't go down this gloomy road, man! You get back in the game! Just grab a hold of my hand!

DL tries to help JP get into the jolly thing. Only, DL doesn't know (how could he?) that JP is too far gone and really can't rise above his situation.
DL tried his best to conjure a spark in JP, but failed. What you saw was not an execution by a bloodthirsty mob led by the ringmaster of evil. Rather, it was the panicky attempt of a court jester trying to resuscitate a dying prince.

It's a sad case (should it turn out to be real angst the kid's battling). But there is no pointing fingers. There's no scapegoat. There's only the nervous crowd, a pressured Letterman and a bewildered Phoenix in the headlights.

Hope you look at the show again. But this time: don't judge them...

Be well Anneli,

I don't understand the notion expressed in this piece that David Letterman was rude or acted like "a monster" when Joaquin Phoenix came on Letterman's show. Phoenix was not bound and gagged then dumped onto the set; he was there to promote a film he was in. As Roger Ebert pointed out recently, Phoenix did a tremendous dis-service to his co-cast members and the director and producers of the film by declining to talk about it and by ensuring his odd behavior would remain the topic of conversation. He gets paid millions of dollars to act in and then to promote movies. That's why he was on the show to begin with; it's not 60 Minutes. And if Phoenix really does have mental, emotional, or substance problems then the people who should be held accountable (in addition to himself, of course) are his agent, manager, publicist or any of the other people he employs to advise him. If anything, I thought David Letterman showed a lot of restraint.

I completly understand what the writer is saying in this peice. She is expressing passion, as she seems to understand from a mental health perspective what this man is going through.

I also relate to Joaquin Phoenix is dealing with, I suffer from Borderline Personality Disorder. Social anxiety is something I suffer with in conjuntion to BPD, all stemming from untreated PTSD which is now chronic PTSD. Most see me as outgoing and a people person, sometimes I exhibit that person, when that person is shinning I often make plans to do something socially that when I am feeling withdrawn and reclusive I cant possibly do, therefore fullfill my planned event. This may be his case, and I think it is exactly it. He made the plans then forced himself to fulfill them, although mentally unable to do so, he continued on, only to leave the world in wonder, mocking his appearance and developing thearies, such as I am doing now. I can feel the pain of how hard it must have been to force himself to go to the studio, really to make each step as hes going through, from getting dressed to go to stepping onto the stage and feeling all of the eyes on you, paralized by self dought which leads to paralisis of your entire body, and in my experiance when you are doing this you are over analyzing your moves so you fall harder.When he left the studio, even if he rolled out of a full nights sleep and went in, you leave yourself feeling pyshically exhausted. I will bet he went right back to bed. Bet he did not sleep, that he wanted to from exhaustion and then went over everything that had just happened in his head. DL was mean, JP ultimatly should not have gone and should be better at recognizing his personal boundries. He should fine tune to know when he can and cant proceed with somthing like that. Hes an amazing person that is very down to earch, very in touch with nature and the natural beauty all over our world. We really should not punk him out like this until we really have a better idea what is going on with him. And credible knowledge of what is going on. Not just some funky picture posted by the tabloids.
I am not asking that people change their ignorant ways, but in this instance, please open your mind that mental illness may seem overdiagnosed or a copout but I believe in this case it is not, ir at least not the underlying factor, it runs deeper that that. Hes had a very humbleing life as well as a very hard life. SO lay off!

This is an example of how pop psychology has turned some people into Freudian cartoons. If you mix that with a journalistic desire to belabor any subject, in order to fill space, then you get this kind of strange analysis.

For someone with little more than an English degree, the author seems rather confident about her convoluted assessments.

It's fairly obvious that the Letterman incident was little more than a publicity stunt by Phoenix for his next project, and it was hardly a success. I find it surprising that an educated person was unable to see through that. True psychosis is not simply expressed through canned awkwardness.

I came to this site through Google, after reading reviews of the author's book "Stuck." My impression of the author after reading the reviews was the she is inclined to offering up far too much of her own opinion as fact; a trait that I find rather nauseating, and potentially dangerous.

It's interesting how that feeling was quickly reinforced in this article.

Some other things happened on Letterman that make me think that Joaquin might just be doing what he does best-acting. First of all, that comment that he made "that's a joke? what do you have them on nitrous etc..." doesn't seem consistent with someone who has lost all touch with reality. You're telling me that he is confused, ashamed and mentally disturbed by the audience reaction to him and that his reaction is to make a sarcastic and witty comment about it in return? Also, there were a couple of times where he appeared to "break character" and smiled/laughed at David's comments (I think after he said, Joaquin I'm sorry you couldn't be here tonight). If Joaquin was so confused and distraught then how come he did appear to see the humor in that particular question rather than continuing to be distraught that the audience/Dave was laughing at him. Also, he is a star so I assume he has an agent/publicist who the producers of the Late Show would have to contact if they wanted to book Joaquin. Your publicist may not be able to prevent you from going out without underwear a la Brittany spears but, I'm sure as hell they would probably not book you on Letterman if you were really mentally ill. If I were a star and my publicist let me do a talk show in that state, the first thing I would do when I regained my sanity is fire them. Also, in all recent interviews I've seen Joaquin is wearing glasses. A fashion choice? Or, is it just easier to lie/put on an act when people can't look you in the face. On the other hand, I did see an image of "the new" Joaquin at a club without his glasses and his eyes did have that glassed over look (totally crazy or just one too many drinks- you decide). If you ask me Joaquin is capitalizing on the recent Hollywood trend of hyped publicity for total train wrecks and glorifying stars who have made a comeback from the brink of disaster. The tabloids sometimes make it sound like bi-polar disorder or drug addiction is this season's biggest trend rather than a debilitating disease. I'm not a doctor, this is just my 2 cents. Feel free to disagree.

Come on!!! Letterman wasn't mean, a monster or a jerk, he was awsome, as so many people have expressed, he tried to get Phoenix involved in the show he agreed to be on, when that doesn't work he had no choice but carry on without him, come on! if any one was rude it was Joaquin,, its a shame cos he is an excellent actor, and he should know better than going on the BEST late night show on tv, high on something, i can't wait to see what you have to answer to this, so please write me back at johanlayzell@hotmail.com Letterman rules!

Just so you know and don't spend any more time debating a void subject, it wasn't actually the real Phoenix on Letterman. As part of a publicity stunt, the actor has had another person impersonating him- hence the beard, glasses etc. Perhaps some of you have read about this by now.
That said, it's usually the actors management that book appearances like this, management which Phoenix has, so if there was fault to be placed, their responsibility should not be overlooked.