Denzel Washington Seen on Video Having Tense Exchange with Pushy Photographer on Cannes Red Carpet

Denzel Washington was spotted in a heated exchange at the world premiere of Highest 2 Lowest at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival on Monday, May 19.

The Oscar winner, 70, was speaking with the film’s director, Spike Lee, when a photographer on the red carpet grabbed Washington’s arm in an attempt to get his attention. Washington’s costar, A$AP Rocky, was approaching him as Washington simultaneously registered that the photographer was grabbing him.

Washington then turned to the smiling photographer and pointed his finger at him as he gave him a stern warning to stop. The photographer seemingly nodded in agreement, but then, when Washington turned away, he grabbed the actor again. Washington quickly jerked his arm out of the photographer’s grasp and reiterated himself once more, repeatedly saying, “Stop.”

Despite this heated exchange, Washington’s representative tells PEOPLE, “It was a great evening.”

Shortly after the interaction and just before the film premiered inside the theater, Washington received a surprise Honorary Palme d’Or, the festival’s highest honor.

Lee, 68, helped present the two-time Academy Award-winning actor with the honor as the pair presented their new movie out of competition.

“This is a total surprise for me, so I’m a little emotional, but from the bottom of my heart, I thank you all. It was a great opportunity to collaborate with my brother once again — brother from another mother, Spike,” Washington said during his speech.

“To be here once again in Cannes, you know, we’re a very privileged group in this room that we get to make movies and wear tuxedos and nice clothes and dress up and get paid for it as well,” Washington added, to some laughter in the room. “You know, we’re just blessed beyond measure, I’m blessed beyond measure, and from the bottom of my heart, I thank you all. Thank you.”

Highest 2 Lowest is Washington and Lee’s fifth collaboration and their first since 2006’s heist thriller Inside Man. Their latest feature is a “reinterpretation” of the famed Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 crime thriller High and Low. But the 2025 adaptation is “played out on the mean streets of modern-day New York City,” according to a synopsis for the film.

A trailer for the movie showed Washington’s character delivering a monologue about the highest highs and the lowest lows associated with success, along with moments showcasing performances from Jeffrey Wright, Ilfenesh Hadera and A$AP Rocky, 36.