Denzel Washington dipped early from Cannes on Monday for a superb cause … and it had nothing to do with the heated pink carpet trade with an aggressive photographer.

A supply near the celebrity tells TMZ … Mondays are DW’s solely time off from his super-popular, completely sold-out run of “Othello” on Broadway in NYC — and the plan was to jet after his movie’s competition screening in France.

Denzel was absent for the press convention after the world premiere of Spike Lee‘s “Highest 2 Lowest” … and there was some hypothesis within the media he bounced because of being pissed after telling a photog to behave proper, all caught on digital camera.

However, our supply tells us that’s BS — Denzel merely wanted to be again in NYC for a tiny little bit of R&R earlier than one other intense week of critically acclaimed performances.

As it’s possible you’ll recall, Denzel needed to examine a photog on the pink carpet of his premiere when the man acquired method too overzealous attempting to get a shot … after which made the large mistake of grabbing DW by the arm.

A visibly irritated Denzel saved telling the dude to “cease” no matter it was he was doing — whereas it regarded just like the photographer was pleading his case for needing to accost him.