Denzel Washington Unloads On Paparazzi For Grabbing Him On Cannes Red Carpet

On Monday, multi-award winning actor Denzel Washington walked the red carpet in France with his costar A$AP Rocky and director Spike Lee during the Cannes Film Festival. He was there to attend the screening of his latest film, the Spike Lee directed Highest 2 Lowest.

But the two time Academy Award winner was stopped on his trek down the carpet by a handsy photographer who grabbed him at least once before Washington asked him to keep his hands to himself.

After being told to stop, the photographer then grabbed Washington's elbow as the venerated actor tried to return to the carpet. Washington had to physically remove the man's hand from his arm.

Which was all captured by other photographers.

Denzel Washington grabbed by photographer on Cannes red carpet, May 19, 2025.Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

Given Denzel Washington's status as a Hollywood icon, multiple videos of the incident quickly went viral across social media.

You can watch the moment here from two different angles:

Mainstream media headlines about the confrontation varied widely.

Some painted the photographer as the instigator who repeatedly put hands on Washington, laughing and smiling in the actor's face as he told him to quit, then grabbing Washington's arm even more forcefully after being told not to touch him.

Various lip readers gave words to what was said during the exchange.

But many other media outlets characterized Washington as " snapping" and out of control on the red carpet or as the aggressor fighting or confronting the photographer—without mention of the photographer's culpability.

Indy100 captioned their post of the reverse angle video—shared above—where the photographer's actions are mostly obscured, seen as just touching Washington's shoulder, before the UK-based publication asked X if the actor was right to react.

When Washington didn't attend a press event after the film screening, these same media outlets attributed his absence to a red carpet " meltdown."

But minimal research revealed Washington traveled to Cannes on his only day off from performing Othello on Broadway and was always slated to miss the press conference in order to return to New York as soon as possible.

At the press event, Spike Lee told the crowd:

"He told me to tell you: Thank you for the love. He’s on Broadway doing 'Othello,' so it really took a lot for him to fly here. Let’s give it up for Denzel Washington, please."

Online, such slanted coverage—assaulted actor telling handsy photographer to stop versus the "angry Black man" having a meltdown—led to widely varying reactions to the headlines and video posts.

Some agreed with the version of Washington as an unjustified and angry aggressor.

But others noted the aggressor was the photographer who refused to respect another person's boundaries and escalated the situation by grabbing Washington more forcefully after being told to stop, all while smiling and laughing.

Essence magazine had thoughts on the matter.

@Essence/X

As did many others online.

r/entertainment/Reddit

r/entertainment/Reddit

Some noted their reaction changed once they actually saw video footage that showed the photographer's actions...

r/entertainment/Reddit

...thus proving the power of headlines to drive a false narrative, like the headlines saying Washington was out of control.

r/entertainment/Reddit

r/entertainment/Reddit

But a representative for Washington told the press the actor still had a great evening at the film's screening. Washington was presented with an honorary Palme d'Or at the event.

Before the Monday night screening, Cannes Film Festival chief Thierry Frémaux surprised the actor with the award.

Spike Lee handed the award to Washington, saying:

"This is my brother, right here. I love him. I love him."

Washington said:

"This is a total surprise for me."

You can watch the emotional moment here.

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Every year the Cannes Film Festival gives out one or two Palme d'Or d'honneur, or Honorary Palme d'Or.

Robert De Niro received one earlier in the week. In 2024, they went to Studio Ghibli and George Lucas. The awards are usually presented before the premiere of the recipients latest project.

The Spike Lee directed Highest 2 Lowest is described as a neo-noir crime thriller adapted by writer and actor Alan Fox. It is an updated, English-language reinterpretation of legendary Japanese director Akira Kurosawa's award winning 1963 film 天国と地獄 (Tengoku to Jigoku)—released in the United States as High and Low.

Highest 2 Lowest received positive reviews at Cannes and currently has a 95% rating on the review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes.

Denzel Washington stars as the film's protagonist, David King, alongside Ilfenesh Hadera, Jeffrey Wright, A$AP Rocky, and Ice Spice.

An A24 and AppleTV endeavor, the film is scheduled for theatrical release in the United States on August 22, 2025 and for streaming on Apple TV+ on September 5, 2025.