Sophia Michaels
Get you a man that can laugh at himself (and the made-up tea surrounding his saliva). After a quick trip to Italy to promote Don’t Worry, Darling, Styles returned to his regularly scheduled programming: Love On Tour in New York City. During his show Wednesday, he joked about #SpitGate, the viral video that made people believe he had spit on his co-star Chris Pine.
“This is our tenth show at Madison Square Garden. It is wonderful, wonderful, wonderful to be back here, I just popped very quickly to Venice to spit on Chris Pine,” he said before letting out a cackle. (The Harries went wild.) “But fear not, we’re back!”
Styles continued his monologue, letting out a giggle about his spit joke. (Very funny, Harry!) Styles’ return to stage comes a day after a rep for Chris Pine denied the spitting allegations in a statement shared with Rolling Stone.
“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,” the rep said “Just to be clear, Harry Styles did NOT spit on Chris Pine.”
The rep added, “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 now-viral video captured the “Watermelon Sugar” singer sitting next to Pine at the Venice Film Festival on Monday. As Styles sat down, his lips seemed to purse, creating the illusion that he was spitting. At that moment, Pine paused his claps and awkwardly looked down at his pants before smiling and slightly shaking his head.
The Styles-Pine spitting speculation came as the Don’t Worry Darling premiere was filled with awkward moments between its star Florence Pugh and director Olivia Wilde. The clearly reluctant encounters followed months of rumors of a feud between the two women and drama related to the original casting (and firing) of Shia LaBeouf.
Following its Venice premiere, Don’t Worry Darling will open Sept. 23 in theaters nationwide.
“Don’t Worry Darling is so muddled in its aims and means, such a missed opportunity at such a crucial moment, that you can’t help but mourn even when you’re being dazzled,” read a Rolling Stone review of the film. “Put it this way: This isn’t a deathblow for anyone involved. But it may be time for them to start worrying.”
