Nicole Kidman and Salma Hayek caught in ugly red carpet confrontation

Nicole Kidman and Salma Hayek were involved in what appeared to be a red carpet row at the Balenciaga show during Paris Fashion Week that saw the Australian actress walk off as their friend Katy Perry watched on agog.

Nicole, 57, and Salma, 58, were stood in front of photographers with Ms Perry , 39, when a fiery altercation took place, apparently over Ms Hayek touching the blonde star when they were asked to pose together. Footage of the incident two weeks ago in the French capital emerged online for the first time today, and has sparked a social media frenzy over who was in the wrong.

Salma, whose fashion mogul husband François-Henri Pinault owns Balenciaga, had appeared to try to get brand ambassador Nicole to turn to face the cameras – trying to steer her to face the cameras with an arm on her midriff – but Kidman wasn't having any of it and appeared to swat her hand away.

One witness claimed that Nicole told Salma firmly: 'Don't touch me'. The onlooker also claimed that Ms Perry had appeared 'embarrassed'. An online watcher said: 'Oh god, you could cut the tension with a knife'. After pushing away her hand, Nicole turned her back before swivelling again to face Salma and gesticulated at her, including what appeared to be a hand signal for stop. She also pointed her finger.

Kidman then kissed Perry goodbye and walked away while appearing to share several more tense words with Hayek, who looked worried. Nicole, who won the Best Actress Oscar for The Hours in 2003 – the same year Hayek was nominated against her for Frida – appeared to exchange more words with Ms Kidman out of shot, Hayek was seen saying, 'Yes please – advice' – at which point Kidman purportedly replied, 'You don't need it' and Hayek said, 'I do.'

Fans were split over the incident. One said online: 'Why is Nicole being so rude?' But another on Reddit said: 'I get that Salma was probably trying to direct her to pose for the cameras, but some people don't like to be touched regardless of the situation, and you just gotta respect that'.

Hayek took to Instagram October 1 with a carousel of images , one in which she posed with Kidman – with awkward body language emanating from both. Hayek did not smile and Kidman was looking down in the photo, which Hayek captioned, 'Finally last night the grand finale of my Paris Fashion Week 2025… [applauds] Balenciaga and Demna for a terrific show. The From Dusk Till Dawn actress tagged in Kidman, Perry and Lindsay Lohan into the post, along with the label itself.

Nicole didn't post about the show at the time but her latest post, featuring a photo of the actress posing on the balcony of her Paris hotel has been flooded with new comments from fans criticising her for the interraction with Salma.

Hayek dressed to impress at the fashion show in a tight black dress which featured a plunging neckline. Kidman wore sunglasses at the catwalk show with a black high-neck bodycon dress with sheer tights and stilettos. The event took place last month and it was the first time Kidman had been seen since the death of her mother Janelle.