Harry Styles Speaks out About Chris Pine Spitting Controversy

By Anna Rumer

Harry Styles has broken his silence after a viral video had some fans convinced that the "As It Was" singer spit on Don't Worry Darling co-star Chris Pine at the Venice Film Festival premiere of their upcoming film. A clip began circulating on Monday of Styles making some kind of movement with his mouth before sitting down next to his fellow actor at the film's premiere as Pine stops clapping, smiles and shakes his head. 

As the clip made its rounds on the internet, fans grew convinced that the "Watermelon Sugar" singer had spit on Pine in front of the hundreds of audience members at the premiere, an idea Pine's rep quickly shot down, calling it "a complete fabrication." Styles addressed the incident for the first time Wednesday from the stage of his concert at New York's Madison Square Concert.

"This is our 10th show at Madison Square Garden," Styles began. "It's wonderful, wonderful, wonderful to be back in New York." He joked, "I just popped very quickly to Venice to spit on Chris Pine," before breaking out into laughter, adding, "But fret not, we're back." Pine's rep made it clear that no spitting was done at the premiere in a statement to PEOPLE Tuesday.

"This is a ridiculous story – a complete fabrication and the result of an odd online illusion that is clearly deceiving and allows for foolish speculation. Just to be clear, Harry Styles did not spit on Chris Pine," the rep told the magazine. "There is nothing but respect between these two men and any suggestion otherwise is a blatant attempt to create drama that simply does not exist." Fans have since speculated that Pine was not looking at a glob of spit in his lap, but at his sunglasses, which he put in his lap.

Styles and Pine's controversy was just one of the many dramatic moments surrounding the Don't Worry Darling film, as star Florence Pugh was absent for the film's press conference due to scheduling conflicts amid her reported tension with director Olivia Wilde. Wilde has also been the subject of drama regarding actor Shia LaBeouf, who pushed back against her claim that she fired him from the project with video footage seemingly showing evidence that he did indeed quit. LaBeouf's role ultimately went to Styles, who began dating Wilde during filming.

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