Tom Hanks ditched the photo call for “Asteroid City” Wednesday after going viral for appearing to “scold” a Cannes Film Festival employee.
His co-stars Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson and Bryan Cranston, however, all attended the post-premiere event where they received a rapture of applause for their work on the Wes Anderson film.
It’s unclear why the “Forrest Gump” star skipped the publicity event, as both his wife, Rita Wilson, and the employee in question, Vincent Chapalain, both shut down theories that the A-list couple were agitated.
“‘This is called I can’t hear you. People are screaming. What did you say? Where are we supposed to go?’” she wrote over an Instagram Story screenshot of an article about their alleged tiff.
“But that doesn’t sell stories! Nice try,” she continued. “Go see Asteroid City!”
Chapalain came forward on Twitter to corroborate Wilson’s story, tweeting, “They simply asked me if they should return to the start of the carpet with the rest of the film crew (I am not security.)”
In a follow-up tweet, he added, “And with the cries of photographers, they needed to speak loudly.”
Chapalain has worked the ritzy Cannes Film Festival for a decade.
Although Hanks’ interaction with Chapalain was purely cordial, the “Cast Away” star was captured yelling at fans last year after they nearly knocked over his wife.
“Stop it!” Wilson, 66, shouted.
“My wife? Back the f–k off! Knocking over my wife?!” Hanks, also 66, then screamed before the couple hustled into a waiting car.
One fan could then be heard apologizing, saying, “Sorry about that, Tom.”
Wilson and Hanks have been married for 35 years. They met in 1981 on the set of “Bosom Buddies,” a sitcom that ran from 1980 to 1982; however, they began as friends as he was still married to his first wife and college sweetheart, Samantha Lewes.
