Joaquin Phoenix’s meltdown/prank on David Letterman Wednesday was certainly eye-opening, but it wasn’t exactly original. There’s a long and storied history of celebrities appearing on Letterman and completely losing their shit. This precedent may lend credibility to the argument that Phoenix’s performance was nothing but an elaborate hoax, perpetrated more for Casey Affleck’s documentary than for the television audience. But this isn’t necessarily always the case. While some of the freak-outs on this list where planned, many of them were genuine meltdowns.

Crispin Glover

A number of people compared Joaquin Phoenix’s appearance to this classic 1987 clip. When someone in the audience made a comment about his shoes, Glover became incensed, went on a tirade about the press, then nearly kicked Dave in the face. It was all an act, at least as far as Glover was concerned. He was actually in character, playing the role from the movie he was there to promote, Rubin and Ed, which wasn’t released until several years later. The incident parallels the Phoenix appearance so well because in both cases, sources insist that Dave was not in on the joke.

Drew Barrymore

Drew Barrymore has gone through many phases in her long career. There was the cute phase, followed by the snorting-coke-while-thirteen phase, followed by many others, right up to the current, lucrative cosmetic endorsements pahse. In 1995 she was deep in the naked phase. She appeared nude in the January issue of PLAYBOY that year, prompting Steven Spielberg, who directed her in E. T., to send her a quilt for her birthday, along with a note that read “Cover yourself up.” Apparently, Spielberg took it even further, having his art department alter the playboy photos to make Drew appear clothed, and tucked those into the quilt as well. Presumably in an act of birthday karma, she appeared on Letterman’s show on his birthday that year, where she jumped on his desk and showed him her bra-less breasts, Spielberg-be-damned!

Jerry Lawler slaps Andy Kaufman

Legendary comedian and performance artist Andy Kaufman was known for befuddling his audience. Perhaps his most enduring prank was his appearance on Letterman in 1982 with professional wrestler Jerry Lawler. Lawler and Kaufman had a wrestling feud that spanned many incidents, including a match in which Lalwer’s pile-driver injured Kaufman’s neck. While the injury was real, Kaufman acted as if it were much worse than it was, blurring reality with entertainment in his trademark fashion. The confrontation on Letterman, and Andy’s subsequent flip-out, were staged, but nobody but Kaufman and Lawler knew it at the time. It wasn’t revealed to be a hoax until 1995, more than ten years after Kaufman’s death.

Paris Hilton

Paris Hilton was forced to postpone an appearance on Letterman’s show in the summer on 2007 due to her incarceration in the LA County Jail. Once released, she made the appearance, hoping to talk about her clothing line, fragrance, and movie, Repo! The Genetic Opera. Dave had other ideas. For several awkward minutes he pelted the heiress with questions about what life was like in the slammer. A visibly distraught Hilton finally said, “I’ve moved on with my life so I don’t really want to talk about it anymore.” After some haggling, Letterman finally let it drop.

Madonna

This infamous 1994 interview is unhinged television at its best. The appearance is surprisingly long, mostly because Madonna refused to leave the set. The segment was shocking at the time; Madonna set the talk show f-bomb record with a whopping 13. But now it’s just fascinating. Structure and a pretense are quickly destroyed, and we get to watch two larger-than-life personalities match wits for twenty minutes, an eternity in the world of late-night television.