Somepuppy VERY important stole the show at the 2024 Oscars on March 10, Sunday.
After being previously reported that the four-legged star would miss the show, Messi the Border Collie of the Best Picture nominee ‘Anatomy of a Fall’ was seen at the awards show, sitting in his own seat.
The good boy AND amazing actor started making headlines back in February, during the Oscar Nominees Luncheon, where even stars like Bradley Cooper couldn’t resist petting Messi.
Messi’s trainer and hooman, Laura Martin, told The Hollywood Reporter, “The big moment was with Billie Eilish, who bonded with Messi for almost 10 minutes. They were hugging and petting and they really had a vibe.”
Even Ryan Gosling couldn’t stop fawning over the pooch!
Messi’s attendance at the Oscars came as a bit of a surprise after previous reports claimed that he would miss the show — something that visibly upset his fans.
The reports started circulating after The Hollywood Reporter previously shared a report that multiple companies were not happy with all the attention the dog was getting.
The report claims that the attention Messi was getting, despite not being a nominee himself, was giving ‘Anatomy of a Fall’ an unfair advantage during the voting period.
But Messi shook it all off and attended the award show on Sunday, looking like a distinguished gentleman with his bow tie.
The Oscars even shared a photo of him with the caption, “The Oscars’ VIP (Very Important Pup)”.
And believe it or not, Messi was also seen applauding Robert Downey Jr. after his Best Supporting Actor acceptance speech!
Messi the dog played the supporting character ‘Snoop’ in director Justine Triet’s French drama.
Martin shared that they had to train for two months for the scene where where Snoop got poisoned. “Even the simplest things take a lot of work,” she tells IndieWire.
“It had to happen in steps. First, the simple laying down and having his head kind of immobile. [I] started there and then [we worked on] lifting the head and just letting it fall back without resistance,” she continued.
Martin also revealed that Messi gets calls now, adding, “Because now he is a star.”