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People still can’t stop talking about the clash between Salma Hayek and Nicole Kidman that occurred during Paris Fashion Week. The incident that everyone’s been buzzing about unfolded while photographers were snapping pictures of the actors after the Balenciaga show.

The women were locked in a tense moment as they exchanged some words and there was even physical contact between them, which left onlookers stunned and confused. Now, lip readers and other experts have analyzed the footage and are sharing what they observed.

Here’s more on that and who a body language expert said came out of this looking “better.”

Expert says Kidman ‘had enough’ and ‘didn’t want to play ball’ with dominant Hayek

Darren Stanton is a body language and behavioral expert with a degree in psychology. He previously worked as a police officer and used his expertise to uncover the truth when interviewing hundreds of suspects. He later moved into media and TV as a consultant and has been dubbed the “Human Lie Detector.” 

In the video, Hayek can be seen placing her hands on Kidman as she tries to get her to turn around for photos. However, the Big Little Lies star didn’t like that and most lip readers concur that she told Hayek: “Don’t Touch Me.” After seeing the awkward exchange between the two movie stars, Stanton gave his take on what their body language showed.

Speaking on behalf of Spin Genie, he explained: “The critical moment seems to be that Nicole was posing for photos with Katy Perry. As Nicole goes to walk away, Salma pulls her back, puts her hand across her, and pushes her back into situ. However, Nicole has had enough, and she isn’t playing ball. Salma comes at it, likely, from the view it is of correct etiquette to pose for photos for the paps, and Nicole wants to walk away. Nicole has obviously taken exception, and that’s where the altercation has come from.”

Stanton continued: “This is also about the assertion of power. You can see Nicole Kidman makes a gesture with her finger, raises her finger, and shakes her hand, as if to say, ‘I’m not having this.’ You then see Salma hold her hand, almost like a gesture a police officer might make, to direct someone. It’s almost as if she’s trying to direct Nicole’s movement in the opposite direction to where she wanted to go.

“As Nicole walked off in the direction she chose, we see this fantastic chin thrust from Salma, which is reminiscent of the likes of Conor McGregor. A chin thrust is a defiant gesture, meant to undermine and intimidate someone else. You can see she was flashing a fake smile, that’s the sort of gesture that is.”

Who ‘comes off looking better’ in ‘battle of egos’ by not responding to the issue?

Just about everyone who has seen the video picked a side, and Stanton weighed in as well with who he believes came out of the encounter looking “better” and why.

According to Stanton, “It was a real battle of egos, and Nicole came off better because she didn’t really respond and played it down. She walked off with more elegance … Not because she was afraid, but because she didn’t want it to escalate. This alteration was all about the perceptions of power that we see in the limelight. It appears to be some sort of brute of etiquette that one of them has perceived.”

The expert added: “With Salma, she is the more dominant personality here, while Nicole is more submissive, which we see with her gestures, no micro-expressions of contempt. With Salma, we saw the chin thrust early on which showed defiance and arrogance. There’s a shot at the end where she showed complete contempt, with her eyebrows pulled together, the eyes narrowed, and the lips pierced.

“Nicole backed down and wanted to get away as quickly as possible. At one point, we see this blatant dominant gesture from Salma, where she puts her arm across Nicole to stop her, who then drops her head, which is a submissive gesture. This shows her acknowledging Salma as the more powerful person, or that she doesn’t want to lead to further confrontation.”

Showbiz Cheat Sheet acknowledges conditions and cultures can impact body language and is sensitive to all backgrounds.

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