Leo DiCaprio made headlines earlier today for taking his Wolf Pack out for a wild and crazy adventure, but alas, things aren't all roses for the actor and environmental advocate. The Department of Justice just confiscated one of his Oscars — not the one he won in 2016 for The Revenant, but one he'd bought through a shady production company.
Turns out, Leo had acquired Marlon Brando's original Oscar statuette from the latter's 1954 turn in On the Waterfront. He got the golden man hookup from Red Granite Pictures, which produced films like Dumb and Dumber To and Daddy's Home, but also reportedly helped hide money from high-level Malaysian corruption. (You read that right.)
According to the Department of Justice, they're looking to trace tens of millions of dollars through Red Granite and other Malaysian-backed production companies, specifically through extravagant celebrity gifts like diamonds, priceless art, and yes, a wayward Oscar. Another celeb wrapped up in all this: model Miranda Kerr, who reportedly received heaps of diamonds from Malaysian financier Jho Low.
Though Leo didn't star in Red Granite's marquee pictures, the Martin Scorsese-directed Wolf of Wall Street also received financing from a Malaysian production company. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Leo received other gifts through this strange cross-Pacific saga, including "a Picasso painting purchased for $3.28 million, a photograph by Diane Arbus purchased for $750,000, and a Jean-Michel Basquiat collage purchased for $9,191,040."
As weird as this investigation is on paper, it honestly reads like an excellent Hollywood script.
