Hollywood hunk Eric Dane, aka McSteamy, has pulled out of his impending trip to Dubai. tabloid! reported earlier this week that the Grey’s Anatomy actor was on his way to the Dubai International Film Festival (Diff) in December as part of the newly established IWC Schaffhausen Filmmaker Award.

Representatives of luxury watch brand IWC Schffhausen, for whom the 40-year-old is the “friend of the brand”, confirmed the cancellation of the trip but were unable to explain what had caused Dane to pull out. The IWC Schaffhausen Filmmaker Award is a Dh367,000 film grant to be awarded to one film project from the Gulf at the festival. Hollywood star Cate Blanchett will be on hand to present the award. Diff runs from December 9-16, 2012.