This week, Robert Pattinson has been making headlines whilst promoting his upcoming film 'Good Time', but for some very odd reasons. From The Safdie Brothers, the flick sees Pattinson star as Constantine 'Connie' Nikas, a man who's on the run from the authorities but who wants to help his brother Nick (Ben Safdie) escape from prison. It's received some huge critical acclaim following advance screenings and so, the hype surrounding the film has been very high.

Robert Pattinson leads the cast of the film 'Good Time'Robert Pattinson leads the cast of the film 'Good Time'

Chatting on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live' about the movie earlier this week, Pattinson began talking about how in one particular scene, he was "sleeping with" a dog, and "basically giving the dog a hand job". He goes on to say how he was then encouraged not only by the film's director to partake in the act for real whilst being filmed, but by the dog's owner too, who gave him tips on how best to do it.

Thankfully, Pattinson says he refused to go ahead with what PETA has since called the "molestation" of the animal, and instead a "red rocket" was created for the scene.

The controversy has now led to Pattinson clarifying the comments he made on the show, with the actor now claiming he was trying to make a joke. He said in a statement (via IndieWire): "The story I told on 'Jimmy Kimmel' last night seems to have spiraled out of control. What didn’t come across is that this was supposed to be a joke. No one at all expected or assumed that anything like that would happen on the 'Good Time' set. We are all huge animal lovers and would obviously never do anything to harm an animal. Everyone involved in 'Good Time' are amazing professionals and have come together to make a movie that I’m extremely proud of. I feel embarrassed that in the moment, I was trying to make Jimmy laugh, only to create confusion and a false impression."

Whether Pattinson is now doing damage control because of the uproar that's surrounding the film, or he did just make a terrible joke is up for debate. Unless somebody on set is willing to come forward and say that the story was an accurate portrayal of what happened however, we only have his word to go by.

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'Good Time' hits movie theatres in the United States on August 11. No UK premiere date has yet been set.