Topics: Celebrity, US News, Entertainment
After conspiracy theorists alleged he'd been 'swapped out' ahead of his appearance at last week's Cesar Film Awards in Paris, Jim Carrey has spoken out.
In a fiery new statement, the 64-year-old actor has addressed 'cloning' theories head-on, insisting it was really him who was honoured with a Cesar d'honneur accolade on Thursday (26 February), in recognition of his over 30 years in Hollywood.
Carrey attended the festivities with his daughter, Jane, grandson, Jackson, and girlfriend, Mina, thanking the trio during his acceptance speech, which was delivered entirely in French with a thick American accent.
The Canadian-American star inadvertently went viral for his appearance, however, after fans picked up on a considerably longer new hairstyle.
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An outlandish theory that Carrey had been cloned ahead of the ceremony quickly took off on social media, however. Some eagle-eyed fans even claimed his eye colour had changed since his earliest days in the industry, from dark brown to a pale green.
"Is that actually him?" one onlooker asked, while another then confessed: "I don’t know what it is, but he looks different."
A third went on to insist: "You can’t convince me they didn’t clone Jim Carrey."
The online conspiracy even saw one globally-renowned drag artist chime in, claiming they were behind Carrey's controversial new look.
Taking to Instagram, prosthetics professional Alexis Stone shared several photos of the actor last week with their 1.3 million followers, followed up by what appears to be an AI-generated image of an entire head mask and a set of false teeth.
"Alexis Stone as Jim Carrey in Paris," they captioned the snap, sending the Carrey 'cloning' theory straight back into the headlines all over again.
Apparently, however, The Mask actor has had enough of speculation regarding his appearance.
Speaking to Page Six through his agent, Marleah Leslie, Carrey insisted no body doubles were involved in last week's public outing - the first he'd made since the November prior.
"Jim Carrey attended the César Awards, where he accepted his Honorary César Award," Leslie told the publication.
Her statement also came after the César Awards' lead delegate, Gregory Caulier, slammed the viral theory that Carrey had been 'swapped out', describing his prestigious win as a 'historic moment'.
Caulier told Variety: "Jim Carrey’s visit has been planned since this summer. From the outset, he was extremely touched by the Academy’s invitation. Eight months of ongoing, constructive discussions.
"He worked on his speech in French for months, asking me about the exact pronunciation of certain words."
The delegate went on to insist Carrey had attended 'with his partner, his daughter, his grandson and 12 close friends and family members'.
"His longtime publicist accompanied him. His old friend Michel Gondry, who has made a film and two series with him, was there, and they were delighted to see each other again," Caulier continued.
"For me, it’s a non-issue. I just remember his generosity, his kindness, his benevolence, his elegance."
Even though Carrey has confirmed that it was definitely him at the Cèsar Awards, a prosthetic expert has already debunked Stone's claims of impersonating The Truman Show star.
Speaking to LADbible, David Malinowski, who is an Oscar-winning prosthetics artist, said there were 'obvious' signs that it was, in fact, Carrey, as he went on to say: "He is absolutely not wearing a mask. In my expert, professional opinion, that’s 100 per cent Jim Carrey, and Jim Carrey is not wearing any prosthetics either.
“It’s not like he’s wearing them and someone else is saying it’s theirs, it's not Alexis claiming to be him, and it's not Jim Carrey in prosthetics looking different."
He added that Stone's face is 'such a completely different structure to Jim's anyway even if you were to put that mask on', and he further speculated the image may been AI-generated, mainly because the teeth 'wouldn't even fit in anybody's mouth to even be underneath the prosthetic'.
Malinowski went on to say it would also be 'impossible' for makeup to last all through the ceremony and still be 'perfect' as it would require 'constant maintenance'.
