JOSH Hartnett’s publicist would have us believe her client is a gallant gentleman - but others say Hartnett is the type of guy who just stands by during a bar brawl.

Last week, Page Six heard that Hartnett was “involved in a bar fight” on Feb. 17 outside the Lower East Side watering hole Whiskey Ward.

But when we looked into it, his rep said Hartnett actually diffused an argument inside the bar, and we described the star as “chivalrous.” That has prompted witnesses from the evening to come forward with their own, different accounts.

“Hartnett was with a group of very aggressive guys and two girls,” said a Whiskey Ward patron. “One of the girls in his group claimed a guy in the bar pushed her, and Josh’s friends started getting really heated.”

According to multiple witnesses, Hartnett did play a role in cooling down an argument inside Whiskey Ward at 2 a.m. But by closing time early Sunday morning, when the boys took their rumble outside, the actor stood quietly by, we’re told.

“At about 4:15, a group of guys jumped [a fellow patron],” said a female witness to the incident. “They threw him to ground and kicked him. And Josh was just standing by and watching,” said the observer, who recounts that the whole fight lasted about four or five minutes.

Friends of Hartnett, along with his reps, denied that account, and said he tried to stop the fight by loudly saying, “Everyone just relax and grow up.” His pals also claim the other guys were the aggressors, and that one of them “cold-clocked” a member of the actor’s crew in the head.

But witnesses for the other side said Hartnett’s friends “were aggressive jerks.”

This wasn’t the first time Hartnett has had a wild night in downtown Manhattan. In January, the star - who was spotted canoodling with Gisele Bundchen and ex-girlfriend Scarlett Johansson in the same week - reportedly spent time in the bathroom of Mama’s Bar on Avenue B with two girls.

(viapage six)