• A fan theory that Timothée Chalamet is actually secretly the UK rapper EsDeeKid caught traction online last month.
  • Conspiracy theorists have brought up their similar eye coloring, and Timmy's now-famous past attempts at a rap career.
  • The actor has responded to the rumors by hopping on a remix of one of the rapper's most popular songs.

Timothée Chalamet is a very busy man. When he’s not gracing magazine covers or orchestrating a viral promo stunt for an upcoming movie, he’s diving into intense character work for his next Oscar bid. He is also hopping on song remixes to address conspiracy theories that he is actually the British rapper known as EsDeeKid.

For the not-yet-indoctrinated, EsDeeKid is an up-and-coming musician who released his debut record, Rebel, this summer. His singles “Phantom” and “4 Raws” have climbed the UK charts, but his most popular track is the TikTok-favorite “LV Sandals,” which has been lip-synced and remixed into oblivion, and features fellow underground UK rappers fakemink and Rico Ace. He’s reportedly from Liverpool (you can hear his thick Scouse accent on every track). And like Daft Punk, Sia, and Orville Peck before him, EsDeeKid prefers complete anonymity: he wears a balaclava during every public appearance.

How did the "Timmy is secretly EsDeeKid" rumors start?

Speculation that Timothée’s the man behind the balaclava stems from a video posted by artist/cultural critic KJ Freeman last month. In the clip, KJ lays out surprisingly convincing evidence that Timmy is pursuing an alt rap career. First, there’s the fact that Timmy made a surprise appearance at a fakemink show in London this year—an unexpected place for him to pop up, given his active schedule, but logical if he were, say, EsDeeKid, a frequent fakemink collaborator. There's the fact that they've been photographed wearing identical bandanas. Then there’s our knowledge that Timmy is no stranger to accent work (see: A Complete Unknown, The King), so putting on a Liverpool lilt wouldn’t be too much of a challenge.

As KJ tells it, an alter ego would be the only way Timothée could chase a hip-hop dream, since the prestige-actor-to-successful rapper path is one rarely trodden. “The actor-to-musician crossover is very hard to do. The only person who really managed it was Jamie Foxx, and even then, people thought he was doing a Ray Charles impersonation.” Timothée has often expressed that he had adolescent dreams of being a world-class rapper, and his widely-circulated high-school “Timmy Tim” performances prove as much. This EsDeeKid theory proposes that maybe, now that Timmy’s established himself as a distinguished film actor, the only way he can pursue that original rap-star fantasy is through the anonymity that a fake name, a Scouse accent, and a balaclava provide.

Fans have identified even more suspicious ties between Timothée and EsDeeKid: the double “ee” in both names, Timothée’s recent fakemink-esque buzz cut, and the fact that EsDeeKid’s eyes look almost exactly like Timmy’s. Each new clue feels more convincing than the last.

It also genuinely seems like the kind of promotional stunt Timothée would fit into his Marty Supreme era—just as dramatic as prancing around Midtown Manhattan with a crew dressed as ping-pong balls or staging a satirical Zoom call where he plays an exaggerated (?) version of himself bossing around his film’s marketing team. Posing as an underground rapper off-duty wouldn’t be off base; in fact, it’s comparatively tame.

And what did Timothée have to say about all of this?

At first, he was playing things coy. In a recent interview with Heart Radio, he said, “I got no comment on that…Two words: All will be revealed in due time.” Which isn't two words at all, but ok. Everything was revealed today, when he and EsDeeKid dropped a remix with a full music video for the song "4 Raws." Standout lyrics in Timmy's verse include My dick is young and restless and [My] girl got a billion. See here for more:

It's the natural conclusion to a theory that has arrested the internet's attention for weeks. It confirmed that Timothée and EsDeeKid are, in fact, two different people, and also led to the revival of the iconic Lil Timmy Tim persona. So, for that, let's all take a moment and thank KJ Freeman for her contributions to society.