If you’ve been following the news around the release of Don’t Worry Darling, we won’t need to tell you that there’s been lots of drama and controversy.
But things took a bizarre turn on Monday evening, when parts of the internet were speculating if Harry Styles spat on Chris Pine during the premiere of the film at the Venice Film Festival.
Footage captured at the screening showed Harry taking a seat next to Chris, who was applauding. Just before sitting, Harry’s lips move before Chris looks down, stops clapping and then appears amused.
#SpitGate soon began to trend on Twitter, as many went crazy over the video.
However, there appears to be quite a simple explanation for the moment – not to mention the fact it doesn’t even look like anything left Harry’s mouth.
One Twitter user pointed out that Chris looks down and spots his sunglasses in his lap, which he then picks up:
Another user pointed out that Chris’ phone is also visible on his right leg, which appears to catch his attention momentarily:
A close-up, slo-mo video of Harry sitting down also shows him simply pursing his lips, not spitting:
See?
A representative for Chris Pine later issued a statement to Variety, clearing up the claims.
“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,” they said.
“Just to be clear, Harry Styles did not spit on Chris Pine,” the statement continued. “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.”
While the film isn’t due out in cinemas until later this month, it hasn’t been far from the headlines over the last few weeks due to much speculation about purported feud between Florence and Olivia, based on the impression that the actor has barely promoted the movie on social media.
The two women have also expressed divergent views on the film’s sex scenes.
Olivia has described the movie as breaking new ground for centring female pleasure and, throughout promoting the movie, has discussed her philosophy on portraying sex on screen. On the other hand, in a Harper’s Bazaar profile published earlier this month, Florence suggested the movie’s marketing has placed too much of an emphasis on sex.
Olivia was also forced to speak out over seemingly false reports that Harry was paid more than three times as much as Florence for his work on the film, despite the latter receiving top billing.
Don’t Worry Darling hits cinemas in the UK on 23 September. Watch a trailer below...