Harrison Ford is not allowed to sit next to his wife

At the premiere of “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” at the Cannes Film Festival on May 18, 2023, an unpleasant situation arose: Calista Flockhart, the wife of the leading actor Harrison Ford, was not allowed to sit next to her husband in the front row sit.

A video shows Ford and Flockhart holding hands and appearing in the hall to applause – and first look at the seating arrangement. The two notice, visibly surprised, that they weren’t placed next to each other. Ford, of course, sits in the front row as the star of the film, with Flockhart (who became known in the 1990s as attorney Ally McBeal in the TV series of the same name) having to sit behind him. You can’t hear what the two whisper to each other — neither of them seem to be enthusiastic about being separated.

Awkward moment at the INDIANA JONES premiere when Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart arrive at his seat and she realizes Cannes assigned her the row behind him pic.twitter.com/NoXKiXp00c

— Kyle Buchanan (@kylebuchanan) May 18, 2023

Faux pas — or is it?

Is this a faux pas by the organizers? No, say some Twitter users. “It’s normal for Cannes. Only the film team sits in the first row. But someone should have told them beforehand,” one person wrote. “I don’t want to be that person, but that’s standard procedure at movie premieres: the actor’s partner sits in the back so the entire cast can sit in the same row in front,” comments one user. Others are outraged: “What kind of bullshit is this lack of respect,” says one person. “What can you expect from Cannes after showing their disrespect for women,” says another.

One thing is certain: Ford and Flockhart seem to have known nothing about the seating arrangement. Neither of them have commented on it yet.