Messi Oscars conspiracy theories run wild: Does Messi have a stand-in that is… Clapping?

The saga of Messi, the talented dog actor from Anatomy of a Fall, at the Oscars gets even stranger: not only does it seem that Messi may have pre-taped his appearances, and has a stand-in, but also he’s somehow… Clapping? In the audience?

Here’s what we know so far. According to The Hollywood Reporter writer Chris Gardner, who posted at 6:25 pm ET, “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.”

However, we do not that indeed Messi was in the show, because we saw it with our own eyes… Right?

While this may be pure speculation, a Spanish blogger reposted the Messi video from Gardner, and added her own take. Here it is translated from Spanish: “A great fact about the ceremony is that the little dog Messi recorded his appearances at the Oscars beforehand, to avoid stress.”

We don’t know where exactly she’s getting her info from, so take it with a huge grain of salt. But I will note that the live shots from the Dolby Theater don’t seem to have Messi currently in attendance, so it’s possible that either Messi was filmed in advance; or he was taken out of the auditorium after the opening monologue.

Things get even stranger though because you can clearly see in the video that the dog is… Clapping??? It’s possible this is a bit they filmed for later in the show, with Messi seemingly clapping with fake dog paws. Or Messi might truly be the most talented dog actor of all time.

Either way, these Oscars are… Going to the dogs.

Update! As soon as we posted this, indeed, Messi was clapping at the Oscars for Robert Downey Jr.'s big win for his role in Oppenheimer:

More, please! Keep it coming! All Messi, all the time!