Was ‘Anatomy Of A Fall’s Messi Not Actually at the Oscars?

All eyes were on the star canine Messi from Anatomy of a Fall during the 96th Academy Awards ceremony on Sunday (March 10), but it turns out that the dog might’ve not actually been at the awards ceremony.

The border collie appeared in several viral moments during the night, including when he seemed to be clapping for Robert Downey Jr.’s first-ever Oscar win for his role as Lewis Strauss in Oppenheimer.

Nevertheless, everything might not be as it seems.

Critic Chris Gardner from The Hollywood Reporter tweeted a behind-the-scenes video from the starry night showing a dog in a controlled audience in the Dolby Theatre pre-recording footage. He wrote in the caption, “Messi the dog from Anatomy of a Fall was not due to attend the #Oscars but there is a look-alike in front of a camera in the Dolby filing a segment with a small audience.”

Later in the evening, Gardner gave an update: “These cutaway shots of the dog are from this moment, fyi. The dog isn’t seated right now as far as I can see.”

Gardner later walked back his claim that the dog was a “lookalike” and said that Messi was in the building during the prerecorded segments.

Messi’s owner and trainer Laura Martin Contini posted content from the event all evening and suggested that Messi was in attendance. She also revealed a photo of the fake dog arms used to make Messi look like he had been clapping, as he was during Downey Jr.’s win.

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A post shared by Laura Martin Contini (@lauraandmessi)

Messi’s appearance at the award show was a delightful surprise as days prior to the ceremony, it was rumored that he would not be allowed to attend due to pushback from nominees who were upset by his presence at the Oscars luncheon. The Hollywood Reporter first reported the news, citing “a source at the Neon-distributed film.”

Now, fans of Messi are unsure what to make of the recent reveal, with one comparing the behind-the-scenes shot to telling children that Santa Claus isn’t real.

“This was prerecorded actually so they could have had him anywhere clapping for anyone. Messi [is] not an RDJ dog, he does not care for him in fact,” tweeted one fan desperate to clear Messi’s name.

“‘They prerecorded Messi’s appearance at the Oscars, they fooled us’ I’m honestly so happy they did, I was thinking about how stressful such a big event could be for him,” wrote another dog lover concerned for Messi’s wellbeing.

Another echoed the concern, tweeting, “Aww, that makes me happy, though, because it could have been super stressful for a dog, even one so well trained.”

Well, Messi may not have been at the Oscars ceremony in person, but he was certainly there in spirit. With all eyes on the famous canine, he was the true winner of the night.