The actor and singer made light of recent speculation he spit on “Don’t Worry Darling” costar Chris Pine during that film’s debut at the Venice Film Festival.
Videos circulating on social media showed that Styles joked at his Madison Square Garden concert on Wednesday that he had gone “very quickly to Venice to spit on Chris Pine.”
Earlier this week, people on the internet went wild after footage from the film festival showed Styles approaching Pine to take a seat next to the actor at a screening of the thriller. As Styles moved to his seat, he made a subtle “puh” motion with is mouth. Pine then looked down at his lap, paused his applause, shook his head and grinned as if there may have been some kind of joke between the two stars.
The whole incident got so big that a denial of any spitting was issued.
“Just to be clear, Harry Styles did not spit on Chris Pine,” a rep for Pine told People 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.”
It was just the latest supposed off-screen drama around the film.
Director Olivia Wilde also faced questions as to whether she and the film’s star, Florence Pugh had experienced a falling out.
“Florence is a force,” Wilde said during a press conference at the festival. “I can’t say enough how honored I am to have her as our lead. She’s amazing in the film.”
“As for all the endless tabloid gossip and all the noise out there, I mean, the internet feeds itself,” Wilde said. “I don’t feel the need to contribute. I think it’s sufficiently well-nourished.”
Pugh walked the red carpet for the film at the festival, but was unable to participate in the press conference because of a scheduling conflict.