Recommendations of the Editorial team
Last week, Jim Carrey was in Paris for the César Awards, France’s national film prize and one of the country’s highest honors. The comedy star was honored with an honorary César and gave an acceptance speech entirely in French to mark the occasion. It was a touching, charming, well-deserved moment all around, but one that was overshadowed by conspiracy theories that it wasn’t Carrey himself who was there, but perhaps a clone. Or a drag performer in extremely elaborate makeup.
Admittedly, sending an impersonator to an awards ceremony in his place sounds like a conceptual joke that someone like Carrey – who doesn’t make a lot of public appearances – might indulge.
But the rumors reached such a level that both the actor’s publicist and a César Awards representative released statements emphasizing that Carrey himself was actually in attendance.
Official statements on the rumors
Marleah Leslie, Carrey’s publicist, kept her statement brief: “Jim Carrey attended the César Awards where he received his honorary César,” she told ROLLING STONE.
Meanwhile, Gregory Caulier, general delegate of the César Awards, called the conspiracy theories a “non-issue” and Carrey’s performance a “historic moment” in a statement to Variety. Caulier said Carrey had been planning his participation in the Césars since the summer and was “extremely touched by the Academy’s invitation.”
Months of preparation for the speech
He continued: “He worked for months on his speech in French and asked me about the exact pronunciation of certain words. He came with his partner, his daughter, his grandson and 12 close friends and family members. His long-time publicist accompanied him. His old friend Michel Gondry, who made a film and two series with him, was also there and they were very happy to see each other again… I remember above all his generosity, his kindness, his benevolence, his elegance.”
Rumors of a fake Carrey at the César Awards began circulating online last week when people commented on his appearance on social media. Many of these posts were meant to be facetious, but a variety of engagement baits also appeared, including an interminably long post based on an old clip of Carrey saying, “I don’t exist” — while at the time discussing acting, celebrity, and constructing a public persona.
Drag post further fuels speculation
Drag performer and makeup artist Alexis Stone took things even further with an Instagram post that featured several photos of Carrey at the Césars and was captioned, “Alexis Stone as Jim Carrey in Paris.” While Stone is known for extremely impressive full-body transformations into various celebrities, the final slide of his post made it clear that it was a joke: a heavily AI-generated image of a mask, dentures, a wig, and a makeup table with a blurry Eiffel Tower in the background.
