The picture sparked headlines last summer: Lena Dunham was photographed cozying up to Brad Pitt on the red carpet at the London premiere of their film "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood." In the snapshot, she appeared to be going in for an unwanted kiss.
Now she's defending herself, insisting that's not what was going on.
"I don't know if you remember there was a sort of awkward photo taken of the two of us," the "Girls" writer-star told host Andy Cohen on the May 11 episode of "Watch What Happens Live," as reported by E! News.
"Well, the way the internet read it was I had somehow physically accosted [Brad] causing him a great deal of stress…" she continued, adding, "I would never force a kiss on Brad Pitt. I respect him far too much as an artist and a friend."
Lena went on to explain to Andy during the interview from home that there clearly wasn't an issue because "Later that night, because he knew I felt nervous, 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."
Brad's ring, it turns out, is imbued with a little bit of magic. According to Lena, "Every time I wear it, something amazing happens."
Lena also told Andy about what it was like to work with Brad, who won a best supporting actor Oscar for his performance as veteran-turned-stuntman Cliff Booth in the acclaimed Quentin Tarantino film. Lena was a part of the ensemble cast, playing Catherine Share, one of Charles Manson's loyal followers.
"Well, I actually had the pleasure of knowing [Brad] 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," she explained, as reported by "ET Canada." "And I think what happened was the best thing that's maybe ever happened to me."
She went on to share the anecdote. "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," she explained. "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?'"
"He's a truly kind person who can read the room," she added. "And I was super-nervous because I was around so many idols of mine and he made me feel pretty cool."