Welp, that's one way to kick off your Oscar campaign.
Film Twitter was agog on Tuesday about a Drudge Report headline crowing that Leonardo DiCaprio, the Academy Awards' very own Susan Lucci, is raped by a "wild bear" in his upcoming film, Alejandro G. Iñárritu's The Revenant.
[seealso slug="the-revenant-and-leo-dicaprio"]
"The story of rural survivalism and revenge reaches new violent levels for a mainstream film," the Drudge article read. "The bear flips Leo over and thrusts and thrusts during the explicit mauling. He is raped -- twice!"
The article caused a mini-sensation online, prompting both predictable jokes and strong rebuttals from those who have actually seen the film, which has its official release Dec. 25.
leo doing anything to get that oscar, breh lmao. how you even do a rape scene with a bear?— Ras The Destroyer (@Smooth_Orator) December 1, 2015
do i buy popcorn for tonight's screening of the leo dicaprio bear rape movie or just a half-coke/half-cherry icee or what— rob harvilla (@harvilla) December 1, 2015
Hey @mattdrudge don't be a dumbass. It's a female bear trying to kill Leo. Rape? What brain addled moron told you this?— Sasha Stone (@AwardsDaily) December 1, 2015
Finally, 20th Century Fox -- the fittingly animalistic studio behind the film -- moved to clarify what actually does happen between the bear and Leo onscreen. Spoiler alert: It's not rape.
“As anyone who has seen the movie can attest, the bear in the film is a female who attacks Hugh Glass [DiCaprio's character] because she feels he might be threatening her cubs,” a Fox spokesperson told Entertainment Weekly Tuesday. “There is clearly no rape scene with a bear.”