If you’re looking for confirmation that Harry Styles hocked a loogie on his “Don’t Worry Darling” co-star, you’re spit out of luck.
The film’s director, Olivia Wilde, shot down talk that Styles did indeed spit on Chris Pine earlier in September at the Venice Film Festival, which has been widely debated the last few weeks.
“He did not, but I think it’s a perfect example of people will look for drama anywhere they can. Harry did not spit on Chris, in fact,” Wilde said during a Sept. 21 appearance on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”
“Only time will tell,” Colbert said.
“No, he really didn’t,” she replied.
“People can look at a video that shows evidence of not spitting on someone else and they’ll still see what they want to see and that is the creation of drama and that is clickbait,” Wilde continued.
A representative for Pine had previously denied any spitting took place.
“This is a ridiculous story,” the rep said in a statement to TODAY. “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 ... 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.”
Styles, meanwhile, had some fun with the whole matter when he performed in concert at New York City after the incident went viral.
“This is our 10th show at Madison Square Garden,” he told fans in attendance.
“I just popped very quickly to Venice to spit on Chris Pine,” he added while laughing. “But fret not, we’re back!”
“Don’t Worry Darling,” which opens Sept. 23, has been dogged by plenty of behind-the-scenes drama, including talk that Wilde doesn’t get along with another one of the film’s stars, Florence Pugh. When asked by Colbert about any tension between them, Wilde spoke glowingly of the actor.
“I have nothing but respect for Florence’s talent. She’s fantastic,” Wilde said. “She’s on the set of her movie, ‘Dune,’ right now and there’s nothing cooler than a busy actress. I have nothing against her, for any reason.”
The off-screen rumors have received a lot of attention and generated a slew of headlines, but Wilde says she can easily deal with it.
“We made a movie during the pandemic. That’s like building a house in a hurricane, so we can handle a little Twitter storm,” she said.