Fans frothing at the mouth for more drama from Olivia Wilde’s sophomore film, “Don’t Worry Darling,” spent their Monday poring over several angles of footage of its stars Harry Styles and Chris Pine at the Venice International Film Festival.
Convinced that the “As It Was” singer spat in the lap of his co-star Pine during the movie’s premiere, eagle-eyed social media users with way too much time on their hands replayed a brief clip that showed the alleged spit take while Styles took his seat in the Sala Grande.
But a representative for Pine shut down “foolish speculation” on Tuesday after the meme-generating moment left many wondering whether Styles did indeed send some saliva Pine’s way and constructed a narrative between the “Dunkirk” and “Star Trek” actors.
“i won’t sleep until i know the truth,” one Twitter user quipped.
“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,” a representative for Pine said in a statement to The Times.
“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,” the rep said.
Nonetheless, the clip showed Styles, 28, arriving to take his empty seat next to Pine, 42, who is smiling while joining Wilde and the crowd in applause. But as the former One Direction frontman readies himself to sit to Pine’s left, he briefly appears to pucker his lips. Then Pine looks down at his own lap and pauses for a moment, then appears to laugh. There was no reaction from Wilde, who is dating Styles, but was seated to the right of Pine.
The public-facing event that was probably meant to reset the discourse on the movie’s scandal-addled production continued to be a spitballing sport all over social media instead. Earlier, an awkward, Florence Pugh-less press conference and footage of Pine “astral projecting” during a joint interview with Styles further cemented that sentiment.
“did you see this? harry styles spit on chris pine. yeah, it’s true. people are dissecting the footage looking for a second spitter but apparently it only came from one direction,” wrote one Twitter user, riffing in the style of former “Tonight Show” host Jay Leno.
“people actually think harry walked over there and decided to spit on chris for no reason, in front of multiple people?” one doubter wrote, “and chris made no movement to wipe it off and just sat there smiling and laughing? be f— serious.”
“do i think harry styles purposely spit on chris pine? no. do i think it’s absolutely hilarious to pretend he did? definitely,” said another tweet.
The drama around the lukewarmly received film continued after director Wilde and actor Shia LaBeouf squabbled during the making of the high-profile project and Pugh, who was at the center of that spat, cut back on her press events before and during the premiere.
Salivating armchair analysts can judge the film for themselves when it opens in U.S. theaters on Sept. 23.