Pedro Pascal called out over 'anxiety' claim; Videos of actor touching pregnant 'Fantastic Four' co-star Vanessa Kirby go viral: 'How is he not cancelled yet?'

Pedro Pascal, star of Marvel’s upcoming 'The Fantastic Four: First Steps', is under the scanner after videos featuring his interactions with co-star Vanessa Kirby went viral online, sparking widespread criticism.

Several clips showing Pascal constantly touching his lead actress during their press appearances have drawn sharp reactions from viewers, who labelled the clips as 'uncomfortable'. One particular video which has raised eyebrows was the recent video taken at the Fantastic Four premiere.

The controversy erupted after netizens took offence at the actor placing his hand on Kirby’s baby bump and later holding one arm while he strapped his other arm around her waist.


The video, which was posted on Marvel's official handle, soon went viral, with netizens fishing out the actor's many videos with Kirby, where he can be seen repeatedly touching her arm, her baby bump, and maintaining physical contact at all times dring interviews. While some fans brushed off the moment as the actor's previous admission of having 'anxiety issues', others expressed discomfort, calling the behaviour 'creepy' and 'inappropriate'.


Soon after the clips went viral, one tweeted, "How does Pedro Pascal get away with heavily petting his female costars, in Hollywood of all places, after the entire industry was upended over MeToo several years ago?"

“Pedro Pascal kissing Vanessa Kirby's hand for the 9000th time today while promoting Fantastic Four: First Steps,” wrote one user sarcastically.




Another shared a video of what appeared to be a clip of Vanessa pushing away Pedro's hands from her pregnant belly, while captioning it as, "She wasn’t having it at all!"

"I hate this dude!! Why he hasn’t been cancelled yet!?" asked another while debating the actor's conduct.



In past interviews, Pascal has spoken openly about his struggles with social anxiety, noting that physical touch helps him stay grounded during high-stress situations like press events. Critics were especially vocal in connecting the incident to wider industry conversations around consent and professionalism, particularly in the wake of the #MeToo movement.


Others took to trolling the actor, and questioning, "Me wondering why Pedro Pascal never has ‘anxiety’ around his male co-workers."

While some fans came to his defence, others got filmy and shared memes and other posts trolling the actor with posts that read, "Me alone with anxiety" showing a photo of a person alone and showing "Pedro Pascal with anxiety" by using some filmy stills from movies like 'The Notebook'.


Some even added a Bollywood twist to this trend by posting some stills from various Hindi movies.







'The Fantastic Four: First Steps', which stars Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards and Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm, releases in cinemas in India today, July 25.


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