Actor Brad Pitt attended a screening of his film "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" in Los Angeles on Monday night and he was reportedly "grabbed, pushed and spun around" by a plainclothes security guard who had been hired to protect him, People.com reported. Pitt tried to sneak in about half an hour before the film was supposed to start.

"Though they were exceptionally more aggressive than usual," a statement from Pitt said referring to the paparazzi, "breaking through a security barrier and into a private holding area, ultimately [it was] just another day in the life..."   

The strange incident was caused by photographers going crazy over Brad Pitt, prompting a security guard to grab the actor around the waist in a misguided attempt to keep him safe. Pitt looked kind of rattled by the incident before escaping up a back staircase. The staircase led to nowhere though, and he just hung out up there anticlimactically until the lobby was cleared out for him and it was ok to go back downstairs.

According to a source close to the actor, the guard was just doing his duty in the face of a shutterbug stampede at an L.A. movie house.
"The paparazzi stormed the theater and were incredibly aggressive, pouring in through all entrance areas," the onlooker was quoted by E! News as saying. "They were hitting bystanders with their cameras. The security guard was merely trying to safely and quickly remove Brad from the melee."

Contrary to appearances, another eyewitness said the actor actually did not seem to mind having his picture taken and instead appeared to be excited about his movie. "While the theater security tried to push all the photographers out of the theater, one of the security guards accidentally grabbed Brad by the arm really hard."

A statement from the security firm released to Entertainment Tonight revealed more details about the incident defending the bodyguard's reaction which made Pitt slightly uncomfortable.

"We were told by Mr. Pitt's people that he was being followed by numerous paparazzi that ran a minimum of 20 red lights to keep up with Mr. Pitt. When Mr. Pitt arrived at the theater approximately seven paparazzi bum-rushed the front door of the theater and began to rush inside. It's security's sole priority to protect the talent and I removed Mr. Pitt immediately from what could have been a potentially dangerous situation," the statement read.

Last year at the Venice Film Festival, the actor faced a similar situation with a fan, who appeared out of nowhere and attempted to embrace the actor.