Here are some photos of Josh Hartnett at Joel Silver’s Memorial Day party in Malibu, and you may notice that he attended solo and without girlfriend Amanda Seyfried, whom he started dating early this year and was said to be really into her. I’ve been of the mind that they make a very handsome couple, and — on a more selfish note — it’s great to see photos of their two dogs, Iggy and Finn playing together.

Unfortunately, the tabloids started buzzing about trouble between the lovers in mid-April when The Mail reported that Amanda and Josh had split because she was still hung up on Dominic Cooper. Then The Mail doubled down on its story by saying that Josh and Amanda were still seeing each other but that Amanda was in fact cheating with Dominic whenever she was in London filming Les Mis. So at that point, Josh and Amanda did some well-timed photo ops to prove that they were still together with the most strategic pap of them all — Amanda walking Iggy as if nothing was wrong. Now comes a new twist, which is this Memorial Day barbeque at Joel Silver’s house where Josh was photographed enjoying some female attention.

Now a friend of Josh’s has talked to Us Weekly about how he and Amanda are “cooling down” because she’s allegedly a very clingy girlfriend. This is interesting mostly because The Mail took great pains to paint Amanda as a chronic mankiller, which seems slightly ridiculous but whatever. So is this new planted story some kind of press-oriented revenge by Josh’s camp, or is he really this much of a douche?

So much for a “Big Love.”

After dating quietly since January, Amanda Seyfried and Josh Hartnett are now “cooling down,” two separate sources tell Us Weekly.

“She’s kind of a super clingy girlfriend and he doesn’t want that,” one Hartnett insider tells Us. “He really likes his space and she wasn’t happy about that.” Though the source admits they’re “not totally done” just yet, “they’re definitely cooling down on his terms,” the pal reveals.

A second source close to Hartnett, 33, counters that Seyfried isn’t the issue, and that the Les Miserables star, 26, “keeps him guessing, which he likes.” Instead, the issue lies with the actor’s playboy ways.

“His pattern is to get tired of girls. They were really hot for each other for a while, but she had to go to London for Les Mis [filming] and she’s been there for months,” the source shares. “He went to visit a few times but they just didn’t end up caring enough to work that hard for it.”

Still, “They might hook up when she’s back in town,” the insider adds. “He thinks she’s fun and interesting.”

[From Us Weekly]

Yep, it sounds like Josh has turned full douche on Amanda, which leads me to believe the tables may have turned in their relationship, and she’ll be sticking around because she loves the douchey ones. Perhaps Josh is even being a strategic douche to out-douche the continued lure of Dominic Cooper towards Amanda. Because you know, saying that a girl is “clingy” but still “fun and interesting” is tantamount to saying, “I think she’s nuts but really like sleeping with her.” Of course, Amanda might not enjoy that public implication because she’s so terrified of being promiscuous, but she also likes guys (i.e., Dominic and Ryan Phillipe) who treat her like crap. It’s such a tricky paradox to deal with indeed, but at least if Amanda and Josh last, the puppies will be happy.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and WENN