Joaquin Phoenix Breaks Up with Jimmy Fallon After Being a Jerk Backstage (Video)

The pair improvised a break-up scene after Fallon challenged Phoenix to quit smoking

Joaquin Phoenix might never return to visit Jimmy Fallon on his NBC late-night show unless he can finally kick his nicotine addiction, which apparently turned him into a terror backstage.

“I just didn’t like the way you were treating yourself, and treating the people around you,” Fallon said on Wednesday after Phoenix admitted his backstage behavior was making Fallon “very unhappy.”

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The drama being hinted at apparently stemmed from Phoenix being unable to find a place to smoke cigarettes, which led to Fallon challenging the “Her” star to quit the habit. Since Fallon doesn’t smoke himself, he offered to give up a different unhealthy vice — soda — if Phoenix considered.

But what good is a game without a penalty?

“What if — if I fail, I have to come back on the show,” Phoenix said.

“That is the guy in the hallway — that type of rudeness will not happen on this show,” Fallon joked.

The exchange prompted Phoenix to say “it’s not you, it’s me,” and begin an impromptu, emotional break-up, complete with an improvised musical score from The Roots to set the “heartbreaking” tone.

Watch Phoenix miss the man he fell in love with, below:

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