Singer/actor Harry Styles had a little fun with the #Spitgate story during his performance at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night.
“It’s wonderful, wonderful, wonderful to be back in New York,” he told the crowd. “I just popped very quickly to Venice to spit on Chris Pine.”
Styles was referring, of course, to a video from the Venice Film Festival that went viral earlier this week. No spit can be seen in the footage, but some saliva truthers thought the clip showed Styles spitting on “Don’t Worry Darling” costar Pine at the premiere.
The film has been entangled in multiple off-screen dramas, including reports of tensions between director Olivia Wilde and star Florence Pugh, and the decision to replace Shia LaBeouf, who was originally cast in the movie in early 2020.
A representative for Pine called the #Spitgate story “ridiculous,” while The Independent said a source close to Styles denied any spitting.
For one night, at least, Styles jokingly embraced the controversy. And much like #Spitgate itself, Styles’ latest comments were caught on video from multiple angles:
“Don’t Worry Darling” is slated to be released on Sept. 23. Here’s a trailer for the film: