Pedro Pascal Has Been Accused of Getting "Handsy" With Some of His Costars

If you're turning on a new movie or TV show, it feels like there's at least a 50 percent chance that Pedro Pascal is in it. The actor has, just over the course of this summer, starred in three separate movies and also on The Last of Us for HBO. Given the remarkable run of success he's been on, a backlash feels almost inevitable, and just like that, we've got one.

This time, people are focused in particular on the way that Pedro interacts with women on red carpets and other public settings. Here's what we know about this "scandal."

The "scandal" around Pedro Pascal appears to stem from claims that he is inappropriately intimate with his female co-stars on the red carpet. The criticism reached its apex around the Fantastic Four: First Steps press tour, where videos arrived online that seemed to show Pedro being particularly hands on with his co-star Vanessa Kirby. These videos don't say anything that feels overly intimate, but Pedro does tend to put his arm around her waist and hold her relatively tight.

Pedro has also offered an explanation for his frequent use of his hands.

"I was always one to reach out when I’m facing something that is challenging or making me anxious," Pedro explained in an interview with Men's Health, saying that he has used physical touch as a means for managing anxiety. "I had to go back to what was always the comfort for me in my life, which was engagement in my relationships, my friendships, and conversation and shared experience.”

In spite of this explanation, which makes sense, there were some on X (formerly Twitter) who were still convinced that he was doing something untoward or sinister.

"Using a mental condition as an excuse to grope women is low. What a shameless individual," one person wrote.

"They are not a couple, this s--t is weird," another person added.

To date, Pedro has not been accused doing anything inappropriate either in public or in private. It seems entirely possible that his stated rationale for touching other people is that he is looking to them for physical support, which might explain why he often does it in public. These are the moments when he, quite understandably, is feeling the most anxious and vulnerable.

Another notable moment in this apparent controversy came during Comic-Con last summer, when Pedro reached to hold Vanessa's hand, and Vanessa grabbed his hand back.

“What happened is we were both incredibly nervous going out in front of thousands of people who love this comic,” Vanessa later told Vanity Fair. “He wanted me to know that we were in this together, and I found it a lovely gesture and was very glad to squeeze his hand back.”

This controversy has largely been contained to the internet, and Pedro is still just as employed as ever. While something may come of it, for now, it seems unlikely to affect the upward trajectory of his career.