Penelope Cruz Regrets Getting Too Close to Salma Hayek  4/29/05

Penelope Cruz regrets grabbing pal Salma Hayek's backside during a recent photo shoot, because it sparked stories the friends were actually lesbians.

The Spanish star insists she was sick with the flu and a little delirious when she let her hand linger on Hayek's butt at a press conference for their new film Banditas.

She says, "I grabbed Salma's a** just to keep things moving, because everyone was a little slow. And, of course, the energy changed when I did that.

"There are magazine covers in Mexico describing us as these lesbians because of that. A lot of people were saying we were lovers."