Another major reason rumors occasionally flare up involves Pattinson's notorious approach to press junkets. Early in his career, frustrated by formulaic promotional tours, Pattinson started inventing absurd stories to entertain himself during interviews.
He famously claimed on the Today show that he had witnessed a clown die at the circus as a child, an anecdote he later admitted was completely made up. During promotional campaigns for The Batman and Christopher Nolan’s Tenet, he offered contradictory, surreal remarks about his workout regimens, personal hygiene, and romantic history. Internet users unfamiliar with British dry humor or Pattinson's sarcastic media persona frequently take his deadpan jokes literally. Out-of-context video snippets circulated on TikTok and Reddit often strip away his ironic tone, generating false narratives about his identity.
Pattinson has played queer characters on screen, most notably the surrealist painter Salvador Dalí in the 2008 British drama Little Ashes, which depicted a romantic and sexual bond between Dalí and poet Federico García Lorca. Portraying a real-world queer historical figure early in his career proved his range as an actor, but some casual viewers conflated that performance with his off-screen identity.
