Yeah, except it was the red carpet for a *kids movie* he *starred in*... Otherwise I'd agree. But maybe he's telling the producers to fuck off, that he'll be a liability if they make him go nuts promoting it.
So I'd guess just a random mishap, but anywhere else it'd scream "I wanna be a real actor now, not a kid hearthrob".
I'm starting to be very annoyed by "The Lorax", it's not one of the Seuss stories I remember from my childhood, but it sounds like they took an anti-corporate pro-environment screed and turned into a crappy rom-com used to hawk products including fucking SUVs. That's Universal for you, they are fucking nuts for product placement (as any watching of their TV shows will tell you!) and other bs with no concern whatsoever for the integrity or quality of the product...
Surprising and disappointing that the Seuss estate went along, I understand they were very controlling of the first couple movies... then they got hooked on the cash, sounds like.