Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara‘s relationship is often the subject of false tabloid stories. Gossip Cop has debunked many bogus articles about the couple splitting. Here are a few wrong rumors we’ve corrected.
In December 2019, Gossip Cop busted the National Enquirer for falsely claiming Phoenix and Mara’s relationship was in trouble because January Jones was supposedly pursuing the actor. According to the outlet, the Mad Men star was “crushing hard” on the actor amid his Oscar buzz for Joker. Phoenix did indeed win Best Actor at the Academy Awards on Sunday night – but December’s article was baseless. There’s no indication that Phoenix and Jones have crossed paths. A source close to the situation assured us the story was nonsense. Two months later, we still can’t find any sort of connection between Phoenix and Jones.
In February 2019, Gossip Cop called out Star for alleging that Phoenix and Mara were fighting over the actor’s refusal to get married and have kids. A questionable insider told the magazine that the actor was too dedicated to his work to tie the knot or start a family, despite Mara’s pleas to do so. Gossip Cop quickly debunked the story by pointing to all of the evidence that their relationship was going strong. For instance: photos of the two with their arms wrapped around each other during a romantic stroll in Los Angeles. Meanwhile, Phoenix and Mara reportedly got engaged sometime last year. The private couple hasn’t officially confirmed their engagement, but in Vanity Fair‘s October profile on the actor, the publication referred to Mara as his “fiancee” and noted he was “getting married.”
Gossip Cop busted OK! in December 2018 for claiming Mara was so “freaked out” by Phoenix’s role as the Joker that it was hurting their relationship. The tabloid contended that the actor was driving his girlfriend away because he insisted on staying in character at all times. Joker had already wrapped filming at the time this phony article was published – making its validity very questionable. Regardless, a source close to the couple told us that Phoenix wasn’t embodying a supervillain while home with his girlfriend. More than a year later, the couple is very much together and Mara has supported her now-fiance throughout awards season. She was sitting right beside him at Sunday night’s Oscars. The joke’s on OK!
And in May 2018, Gossip Cop debunked another OK! story claiming Phoenix and Mara were headed for a split over their clashing personalities. The magazine claimed the couple would “officially be over by the summer” following a dispute over where to live. According to the outlet, Mara wanted to live in New York City, but Phoenix insisted on being in Los Angeles. The story didn’t make sense at the time it was published. Mara was already based in Los Angeles – and had put her Los Feliz home on the market shortly after moving into Phoenix’s Hollywood Hills pad. They don’t have clashing personalities either. Around the same time, a friend of the couple told the New York Post, “They’re meant for each other. Both [are] shy homebodies, both loathe press.” Phoenix and Mara still live together in Los Angeles, and both are happy doing so.