Gerard Butler rejected at Cannes Film Festival auction

The 42-year-old actor was dragged up onstage at the Carnival in Cannes Gala for Haitian Relief by writer-director Paul Haggis, in a bid to drive up the value of a weekend pass to the 2013 Golden Globe awards in Los Angeles.

Gerard Butler. Pic/AFP

Butler was stunned when Haggis insisted the winning bidder would also get a tea date with the Scottish actor. The man, who paid USD 125,000 for the package, insisted he didn't want the Butler tea date.

Butler said that he didn't realise he would be part of the package when he turned up at the auction. "No one has the ability to make a fool of me like Paul Haggis. He makes me come up and stand on stage. He makes me feel like an idiot.

I think most of my most humiliating experiences in my whole career have been caused by Paul Haggis. He pimps me out. I put up with it because it is for a good cause," he said. The auction raised more than USD 2 million for Haitian charities.