First of all there were rumours that Cannes had implemented a celebrity selfie ban on any major red carpet during the event, to uphold that elegant mystique that has always surrounded the iconic film festival, and now it has been alleged that they take even more outrageous precautions when it comes to keeping up that old-style, glamourous feel... they don't allow women to wear flats.

According to Screen magazine, a group of women, all of whom were in their 50s, were denied entry to a gala screening on Sunday (17 May) for not wearing high-heeled shoes, despite some of them supposedly having medical reasons that they were in more practical footwear.

Those who were outraged by the revelation were even more dismayed when learning of the irony that the film which these women were trying to see was Todd Hayne's Carol – a lesbian love story starring Cate Blanchett that focusses on the subject of women breaking free from social norms and stereotypes.

Into The Woods star, Emily Blunt, who is at the festival today (19 May) to support her new movie Sicario, responded that she thought that Cannes' actions surrounding the dress code were "very disappointing." She continued: "Everyone should wear flats to be honest. We shouldn't be wearing high heels anyways. That's my point of view. I just prefer wearing Converse sneakers."

The 32-year-old finished her comment by suggesting that with all the latest advancements in women becoming more relevant and powerful in the cinema industry, to have them segregated for something as trivial as footwear is a backwards step. "To think there are these waves of equality and waves of people discovering that women are so fascinating and interesting to watch."

Blunt isn't the only one criticising Cannes for this newly-realised, extreme dress code however. The reports were met with widespread negativity as thousands of people took to Twitter to comment on what they thought of the incident.

During a press conference today (19 May), Sicario director, Denis Villeneuve jested that he and Blunt's co-stars in the movie, Josh Brolin and Benicio Del Toro, could demonstrate their support to women being told what to wear at tonight's gala premiere. He jokingly suggested that "as a sign of protest, Benicio, Josh and [he] will walk the stairs in high heels."

Director of the Cannes Film Festival, Thierry Frémaux fervently denies the accusations that the group of women were turned away. He tweeted earlier today: "The rumour saying the festival insists on high heels for women on the red carpet is unfounded."

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Cannes Film Festival