Lena Dunham addresses ‘awkward’ viral Brad Pitt kissing picture

Brad Pitt’s Once Upon A Time … In Hollywood co-star Lena Dunham has revealed the story behind a very unfortunate photo taken of the pair.

Lena Dunham says Brad Pitt had no problem with her now-viral 2019 attempt at kissing him on the red carpet.

In the moment, captured by photographers at the London premiere of their film Once Upon a Time in … Hollywood, Dunham went in for a smooch but awkwardly got the side of his mouth.

A photographer captured the unfortunate moment. Picture: Dave J Hogan/Getty Images

“I don’t know if you remember there was a sort of awkward photo taken of the two of us,” Dunham, 33, said on this week’s Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen.

“Well, the way the internet read it was I had somehow physically accosted him causing him a great deal of stress … I would never force a kiss on Brad Pitt. I respect him far too much as an artist and a friend.”

She said that later that night, Pitt knew she was “nervous” so he “took me into a room and we secretly ate pizza and I told him I like his ring and he gave it to me.” Dunham added, “And I wear it and every time I wear it, something amazing happens”.

Pitt gave her one of his rings later that night. Picture: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images

While many fans thought Dunham’s affections for Pitt were out of the blue, the actress said that she and Pitt, 56, had a friendship prior to co-starring in the Quentin Tarantino film.

“I actually had the pleasure of knowing him a little bit previously, so I wasn’t going in totally blind. But when I showed up to set, I didn’t have some major megastar part, I was in a really great ensemble of girls so, I didn’t expect … I expected, you know, a friendly hello from Brad. And I think what happened was the best thing that’s maybe ever happened to me,” she said.

“He was doing a scene where he was parking a car and he’s supposed to get out and look around and he looked around and saw me at the edge of frame and came over and picked me up and spun me around,” Dunham recalled. “And it was like … it was like in one of those movies where the nerd shows up at the prom and the hottest guy at school is like, ‘Would you care to dance?'”

The Girls creator added that Pitt, who won an Oscar for his role in the film, is “a truly kind person who can read the room,” and that “he made me feel pretty cool.

This article originally appeared in the NY Post and was reproduced with permission.