If you’ve seen the trailer for The Revenant, then you know much of the plot revolves around the after-effects of Leonardo DiCaprio’s ugly encounter with a very large, very angry grizzly.
While the film’s been the subject of Oscar buzz for several months now, the first screenings for critics and industry insiders were just held this week, and they’ve resulted in one very odd, very ridiculous rumor.
“An explicit moment from Oscar-winning director Alejandro Inarritu has caused maximum controversy in early screenings,” claims the (n)ever-reliable Drudge Report. “Some in the audience escaped to the exits when the Wolf of Wall Street met the Grizzly of Yellowstone.
“The story of rural survivalism and revenge reaches new violent levels for a mainstream film. The bear flips Leo over and thrusts and thrusts during the explicit mauling. He is raped – twice!”
Several mainstream sites picked up the story and now, movie-goers are genuinely concerned about being forced to watch Leo get sexually assaulted by a grizzly.
The rumor has gotten so much attention that a campaign manager for Jeb Bush posted a tweet asking if anyone knew of actual historical examples of bear rape. Seriously.
The speculation has reached such a fever pitch that a spokesman for Fox actually issued a statement clarifying that Leo does not become a victim of inter-species sodomy in the film:
“As anyone who has seen the movie can attest, the bear in the film is a female who attacks [DiCaprio’s character] Hugh Glass because she feels he might be threatening her cubs. There is clearly no rape scene with a bear.”
So there you have it. Leonardo DiCaprio did not get raped by a bear in order to improve his chances of winning an Oscar.
It would’ve been far too risky. If just one critic to took the scene as a commentary on the recent Harvey Weinstein allegations, Leo’s career would be sunk.