Taraji P Henson Clarifies Red Carpet Moment With Ryan Seacrest

Sunday night’s Academy Awards were drama free for the most part, but Twitter did get a little carried away over an exchange between Taraji P. Henson and Ryan Seacrest that many people interpreted as classic “black girl” shade…

As you can see, Henson literally did a chin check and her tone and verbiage was sort of pointed and ambiguous to the point where it was hard to tell whether she was dressing down Seacrest, who has faced allegations of impropriety by a former E! stylist Suzie Hardy… Seacrest was cleared in February after an investigation by the network found there was “insufficient evidence to support the claims.”

Now that things have gotten hot, Taraji P. Henson says she “absolutely” supports Ryan Seacrest, telling PEOPLE her comments were “misconstrued.”

“I did it to keep his chin up. It’s an awkward position to be in. He’s been cleared but anyone can say anything,” she says.

When asked point-blank whether she was supporting the E! host, Henson replied “absolutely.”

Hmmmmmm. So why the confusion?

“The universe has a way of taking care of taking care of good people,” with a touch on the chin of Seacrest. “You know what I mean?”

It’s gotta be the combination of the tone and touch.

It probably also didn’t help that Henson told ABC’s Wendi Mclendon-Covey, “I’m great now that I’m in your company,” following her interview with Seacrest.

Still astute viewers noticed Henson ended the Seacrest interview with a hug.

Seacrest also addressed the exchange on Twitter by keeping a positive spin.

SO…. What we wanna know IS, do you believe Taraji supports Seacrest? Or is she caving in to Hollyweird politics?

Hit the flip for some of the reactions to her comments.