The Truth About Dennis Quaid’s Meltdown (NSFW)

Dennis Quaid’s on-set freakout that went viral this week had us all wondering: is he off the deep end like his brother Randy?

If Funny or Die is to be believed, the answer is no. The comedy site appears to have punk’d the Internet, unveiling the video of what really happened on the Quaid set. As it turns out, most of Quaid’s supposed epithets were accurate.

So what was the point of the exercise? Self-promotion for Quaid’s upcoming Crackle series? A social experiment to determine how things go viral? An opportunity to smear Jimmy Kimmel’s name? We may never know.

Jimmy Kimmel addresses Dennis Quaid freak-out video

Jimmy Kimmel attends the LACMA 2013 Art + Film Gala honoring Martin Scorsese and David Hockney presented by Gucci at LACMA on Nov. 2, 2013, in Los Angeles.

 

 JOE KLAMAR/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

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Jimmy Kimmel has established himself as a prank master and a brilliant manipulator of viral Internet sensations. So when a cell phone video of actor Dennis Quaid freaking out on-set started making the rounds online, it didn't take long for people to start pointing an accusatory finger at the late-night host.

On Tuesday night, Kimmel addressed the speculation that he was behind the clip, and revealed whether it was part of a bit for his show, as many speculated.

"I watched it a bunch of times last night -- and when I woke up this morning -- I was being blamed for it," he joked.

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On April 10, a 43-second video of Quaid's profanity filled tirade hit YouTube. In the video, 61-year-old actor can be seen screaming, "I am acting here, and this dickhead wanders onto my set! I can't even get a line out until Dopey the Dick starts whispering in your ear, and you're not even watching anymore."

Quaid continued, "This is the most unprofessional set I have ever been on," He later referred to his co-workers as "zombies" and "pu**ies."

Soon after the video went viral, a commenter on Reddit claimed the clip was part of a sketch for "Jimmy Kimmel Live." Many felt this made a lot of sense, given Kimmel's history of intricate practical jokes.

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"There are two dozen articles - and thousands of comments online - suggesting that this is a prank - and I am responsible for it," Kimmel said during his show. "And I have to say - that's disappointing. You play like 50 pranks and all of a sudden people don't trust you anymore."

Kimmel made several quips about the video. specially surrounding Quaid's comment calling one of his co-worker "Dopey the Dick," joking that it would be a great name for a children's book. However, the host never expressly denied or confirmed the rumors that he was involved.

ET reached out to Quaid's rep, who declined to comment.

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After the release of the actor's on-set meltdown, it was announced that he would be starring in "The Art of More," a new drama for Crackle that explores "the underbelly and surprisingly cutthroat world of premium auction houses." Could this all be in promotion of his new project?

Go here for the video of Quaid.

For more on the "Day After Tomorrow" star's now-infamous freak out, check out the video here.

Dennis Quaid's meltdown is a classic. Shame it's also clearly fake

The clip, which surfaced on Reddit, is well-acted, but lacks the authenticity of classics like Christian Bale’s epic diva fit

There comes a time in everybody’s life when the actions of another person make you want to scream at the moon, stars, and anyone in your general vicinity. And for Dennis Quaid, that moment came yesterday. (We hope.)

Let’s start at the top. According to a post on Reddit, Quaid lost his cool while shooting a scene after an unnamed person allegedly wandered on to set and messed up his flow.

“I am acting here, and this dickhead wanders on to my set!” he yelled. “I can’t even get a line out until Dopey the Dick starts whispering in your ear, and you’re not even watching any more.

So yes, if this is real, it’s spectacular. Like Christian Bale before him, and even Reese Witherspoon’s brilliant arrest video, Quaid managed to embody the rage we’ve all felt when a human being does anything we disagree with. We have all wanted to refer to our co-workers as zombies before making a dramatic exit (“Don’t fucking ‘Dennis’ me!”). We have all wanted to assert our professionalism (“I’m a pro!”). And we have all wanted to describe a situation exactly as we see it (“This is garbage!”).

Unfortunately – or fortunately, depending on who he was yelling at – it’s also probably staged. A Reddit commenter who claims to work for Jimmy Kimmel let slip that the video is a prank, and lest we forget that Quaid’s done the hidden-camera shtick for Ellen several times, proving he’s not one to shy away from “putting himself out there”.

Also? The alleged movie set has yet to be named. Unlike Bale – where we knew he was just that passionate over his moment in Terminator – we have no idea what Quaid is filming, or how, or why. And if he was in the middle of Truth – a film set to open later this year about Dan Rather – we probably would’ve heard about it by now. Especially since it’s co-starring high-profile actors like Cate Blanchett or Elisabeth Moss, and freak-outs like this tend to leak. (As we can see.)

So no, you guys: I don’t buy it. Dennis Quaid once whispered a request for ketchup into an assistant’s ear without breaking character. This has to be just another venture into one of his many sketch-based personas.

Right?

Unless, of course, he’s just that good of an actor. And in that case, may whatever-higher-power-you-believe-in help us all.