Denzel Washington Left Cannes Early to Get Back for 'Othello,' Not Over Altercation

Denzel Washington dipped early from Cannes on Monday for a good reason ... and it had nothing to do with the heated red carpet exchange with an aggressive photographer.

A source close to the superstar tells TMZ … Mondays are DW's only day off from his super-popular, totally sold-out run of "Othello" on Broadway in NYC -- and the plan was to jet after his film's festival screening in France.

Denzel was absent for the press conference after the world premiere of Spike Lee's “Highest 2 Lowest” ... and there was some speculation in the media he bounced due to being pissed after telling a photog to act right, all caught on camera.

But, our source tells us that is BS -- Denzel simply needed to be back in NYC for a tiny bit of R&R before another intense week of critically acclaimed performances.

As you may recall, Denzel had to check a photog on the red carpet of his premiere when the guy got way too overzealous trying to get a shot ... and then made the massive mistake of grabbing DW by the arm.

A visibly irritated Denzel kept telling the dude to "stop" whatever it was he was doing -- while it looked like the photographer was pleading his case for needing to accost him.