Zac Efron Admits He Totally Dropped a Condom on the Lorax Red Carpet

"You dropped a -- a condom on the red carpet," asked esteemed Today Show journalists Matt Lauer of The Lorax star Zac Efron, grilling the former High School Musical tween idol about the red carpet incident that had the internet agog last week. "That was hard for you to say, wasn't it?" returned Efron, who coolly answered with an unabashed confirmation. Let me reiterate: Yes, that was a gold condom that fluttered out of Efron's pants pocket at the premiere of a Dr. Seuss movie. WHAT OF IT, LAUER??

Kudos to the 24-year-old Efron for coming out on top from the awkward televised inquiry. Ever the pro, he even found a way to bring it back to The Lorax, an animated tale about the dangers of greedy industrialism and deforestation: "It's a great message to add to the many messages in the film." (Just wait for those Fox anchors to get wind of this.)

Which is more than I can say about Lauer's subsequent off-the-cuff joke. "You've got your own production company -- what's next for you? That's a bad pun, by the way... your own production company!" Groan. What, no segue riff into Efron's next movie, The Lucky One? COME ON, LAUER!

At least someone learned a lesson from EfrondomGate; The totally safe sex-having actor says a "pocket-checking policy" will be "fully instated" for future red carpet appearances. Thank goodness we can put this story to bed now.

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[via Today]