It was the ooze seen ’round the world.
Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor and personal attorney to President Donald Trump, delivered a wild news conference loaded with lies and conspiracy theories on Thursday.
But it wasn’t his outlandish and evidence-free allegations about the election that got all of the attention.
It was his face, as a dark liquid emerged from his sideburns and oozed down both sides.
Jimmy Kimmel called it the best part of the news conference.
“He was literally dyeing up there today,” he said, calling it something out of a sci-fi horror movie.
“How scary is this?” Kimmel said. “It’s a grampire, run for your life!”
“I know this could be the end of American democracy,” cracked “The Daily Show” host Trevor Noah. “But, guys, this shit is hilarious.”
He called it proof of “leakers” in the Trump White House.
“Honest question: Was his hair dye dripping? Was his brain shitting itself?” he wondered. “You know your legal strategy is fucked up when even your hair starts crying about it.”
On social media, the leading theory was hair dye oozing down Giuliani’s face.
However, The New York Times spoke to several hairstylists ― and they agreed it was possible that dye was the culprit, they were also skeptical.
“Hair dye doesn’t drip like that, unless it’s just been applied,” David Kholdorov of the Men’s Lounge Barbershop told the newspaper.
One theory is that Giuliani had used mascara to darken his sideburns.
“Sideburns are more grey than the rest of the head,” Mirko Vergani, creative colour director at the Drawing Room in Manhattan, told the Times. “You can apply mascara to touch the grey side up a bit so it looks more natural.”
Another expert told The Daily Beast it could have been something else.
“He looks like to be wearing a decent amount of fake tan or bronzer or some kind of face makeup,” Blackstones colourist and educator Patti O’Gara told the website. “So if it’s not a shitty hair dye situation, it could be fake tan dripping because it does streak like that when you sweat. It’s hard to tell where it’s originating from – his hair or his skin.”
Another stylist suggested that it could have been dye... but just a very cheap one.
Nicole Wingo of Barber of Hell’s Bottom in Washington, D.C., told Slate it could have been a topical product, such as a tinted gel from a drugstore.
“I would guess that something like this is in the $8 to $15 range,” she offered.