The launch of Don't Worry Darling is so messy even the film's star Harry Styles is now cracking jokes about it.
Amid the uproar over what the internet has called "Spitgate"—a video that sparked a rumor Styles spit on costar Chris Pine at the Venice Film Festival over the weekend—Styles poked fun at the story during a recent concert.
During his tour stop in New York City this week, Styles jokingly claimed to have spit on Pine.
See the moment below.
\u201cHarry breaking his silence about the spitting incident with Chris Pine! #LoveOnTourNYC (Via esnydaylights)\u201d— Harry Styles Updates. (@Harry Styles Updates.) 1662601979
Addressing the crowd, Styles said:
“This is our tenth show at Madison Square Garden. It’s wonderful, wonderful, wonderful to be back in New York."
“I just popped very quickly to Venice to spit on Chris Pine.”
“But, fret not, we’re back!”
So he admits it, he spit on Chris Pine!
Just kidding, of course. Naturally, the crowd at Madison Square Garden went wild for Styles' joke, the latest chapter in the long saga surrounding Don't Worry Darling.
After the drama-filled production of the film, its launch has been plagued by scandal that carried over into its Venice Film Festival debut, with star Florence Pugh opting not to participate in the film's press or photo call.
Then at the film's screening, a video clip appeared to show Styles spitting on Pine.
At the precise moment Styles leaned over Pine to take his seat in the auditorium with his lips pursed, Pine could be seen looking into his lap with a bemused look on his face, leading many to think Styles had hocked a wet one on his colleague.
Given the rumors of discord among the cast on the film's set, it certainly seemed plausible. But slow-mo versions of the moment seemed to show nothing of the sort had occurred, and Pine's representatives quickly kiboshed the rumor, calling it a "complete fabrication."
That of course hasn't stopped the chatter about it though and Styles' cheeky quip sparked plenty of laughter on Twitter.
\u201c@TheHarryNews AMAZING! If you weren\u2019t a fan of Harry before this comment, you DEFINITELY are one now!\u201d— Harry Styles Updates. (@Harry Styles Updates.) 1662601979
\u201c@TheHarryNews @pmiscove I absolutely love that he\u2019s making a joke out of this. Way to roll with the punches, Harry! \ud83d\ude04\ud83d\ude04\ud83d\ude04\ud83d\udc4f\ud83c\udffd\ud83d\udc4f\ud83c\udffd\ud83d\udc4f\ud83c\udffd\u201d— Harry Styles Updates. (@Harry Styles Updates.) 1662601979
\u201c@TheHarryNews Now he\u2019s spitbaiting\u201d— Harry Styles Updates. (@Harry Styles Updates.) 1662601979
\u201c@Michiixx he\u2019s TIRED YALL\ud83d\udc80\u201d— Michelle Contreras (@Michelle Contreras) 1662600407
\u201cI love him \ud83e\udd23\ud83e\udd23\u201d— Tercia da Silva (@Tercia da Silva) 1662613386
\u201c@PopCrave one thing about harry is he\u2019ll always have the last laugh\u201d— Pop Crave (@Pop Crave) 1662603304
\u201cA joke for the ages. Top 10 pop culture moment of the decade.\u201d— Grace she/her/hers (@Grace she/her/hers) 1662607421
\u201cthis actually convinces me he did https://t.co/RWTn2iUP6q\u201d— caitie delaney (@caitie delaney) 1662488706
\u201cDEAD \u2620\ufe0f\u201d— Rose (@Rose) 1662629956
\u201cAnd just like that, it takes Harry Styles no more than 10 seconds to lighten the mood of a very tense press tour & show us why he\u2019s one of the biggest stars in the world. Take it in stride, laugh, smile, carry on. https://t.co/7acPdHgFIe\u201d— Elizabeth Wagmeister (@Elizabeth Wagmeister) 1662606942
Pine's reps also likened the video in which Styles appeared to spit on him to an optical illusion, leading many to theorize he was simply looking for his sunglasses in his lap when he appeared to be reacting to Styles' spit.
@GovPressOffice/X
@_branmaraj/Twitter (