It's an excellent thing that society is now sticking up for the rights of women more than ever before, lambasting powerful figures for their objectification of females, but did people go too far when they criticised Adam Sandler for touching Claire Foy's knee during an interview?

Adam Sandler at BFI London Film FestivalAdam Sandler at BFI London Film Festival

The pair appeared on 'The Graham Norton Show' to discuss their respective acting ventures - Adam's 'The Meyerowitz Stories' and Claire's 'The Crown' - but while Adam was relating a story about his mother at the Golden Globes, there was an awkward exchange where he rested a hand on Claire's knee and she had to gesture him to remove it.

Naturally, viewers slammed the actor for making Claire 'uncomfortable', especially when he repeated the action, but her representative has since explained that she did feel that there was anything untoward about the moment.

'We don't believe anything was intended by Adam's gesture and it has caused no offence to Claire', the rep told MailOnline.

It seems it was more Adam's way of interacting with the other guests while he was answering Graham's question. Perhaps he was making a tactile nod to the fact that Claire won a Golden Globe for 'The Crown' last year, or gesturing more towards Cara Delevingne who had just been talking about her own mother attending her fashion shows.

Either way, it didn't seem that any real dispute had occurred. Adam was quick to remove his hand at Claire's silent request, and she seemed well in on the joke when he replaced it, patting his hand understandingly before waving it away again which he promptly did so.

He had also slapped his co-star Emma Thompson's knee first, though she didn't react. Given that they have recently been working together, perhaps this sort of tactile rapport was more understandable and therefore not so much worthy as the subject of criticism across Twitter.

More: Claire Foy replaced by Olivia Colmon on 'The Crown'

A representative for Adam has also spoken out, insisting that it was 'a friendly gesture' that was 'blown out of proportion'. In a world where women have been pressured into massages by a top producer in his hotel room, we have to say we agree.