Timothée Chalamet used to mod Xbox 360 controllers
By Alex Cranz, managing editor and co-host of The Vergecast. She oversaw consumer tech coverage at Gizmodo for five years. Her work has also appeared in the WSJ and Wired.
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This morning, Vice published an extensive investigation examining the rumors that future worm-rider Timothée Chalamet had a previous life as an Xbox 360 controller modder. The investigation includes contributions from Aric Toller, a lead researcher and trainer at Bellingcat, a journalism outfit regularly known for investigating war crimes.
The collaboration between the two noted journalism outfits is extensive. Vice reporters Matthew Gault and Emanuel Maiberg worked with Toller to examine images of Chamalet’s hands, and specifically a scar on his left ring finger, and compare them to screenshots of the hands of anonymous Youtuber ModdedController 360. They also carefully examined images of a young Chamalet’s bedroom that the actor had previously posted to Instagram and compared those images to footage from the Youtube channel.
“Ya, seems like it’s him,” Toller told Vice.
A fact that likely would have been confirmed had Vice followed Youtuber Nate Hill, who interviewed Chalamet and Zendaya last week for Dune. There Chalamet immediately laid the rumors to rest. “I actually had a YouTube channel people found. It’s youtube.com/moddedcontroller360.”
He told Hill he made approximately $30 modding controllers for friends.
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