Chris Pine: Viral video sparks claims Harry Styles ‘spat’ on Don’t Worry Darling co-star at Venice premiere

A brief, yet incredibly puzzling, interaction between Harry Styles and Chris Pine at the premiere of Don’t Worry Darling has gone viral on social media.

Styles and Pine were at the Venice Film Festival screening of Don’t Worry Darling on Monday (5 September) – with co-stars including lead actor Florence Pugh and director Olivia Wilde – when the moment was captured on video.

In the clip, posted by Twitter user JZMaclin, Styles supposedly “appears to spit” on Pine while taking his assigned seat next to the actor, who then looks down at his lap and stops clapping.

The caption reads: “#HarryStyles appears to spit on Chris Pine i won’t sleep until i know the truth”.

Since the video clip was posted online early Tuesday morning (6 September), it has received over 5.5 million views, with many fans claiming Styles “definitely did” spit on his co-actor.

Other viewers have dismissed the “spitting” claim and said it is more likely that the pair were joking around.

“The f*** happened on that set,” one Twitter user wrote under JZMaclin’s post, referring to the controversies that have mired the press run for Don’t Worry Darling.

The Independent has reached out to representatives for Styles and Pine for comment.

Variety co-editor-in-chief Ramin Setoodeh posted another video of “Harry taking his seat” at the film’s premiere, taken from a different angle, which has left fans confused about the former One Direction singer’s alleged actions.

Retweeting the video, Setoodeh later captioned the post: “Coming from the #DontWorryDarling premiere tonight, this is all I can say: There are no trash cans in the Sala Grande – not in the lobby or in the mezzanine where these seats are located. So hypothetically, if you were chewing a piece of gum, there’d be no place to put it.”

Wilde, who is currently dating Styles, was seated next to Pine when the odd moment took place.

Her film has experienced a number of controversies, including a dispute over the nature of actor Shia LaBeouf leaving the project, later being replaced by Styles.

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Ahead of the film’s release, Wilde claimed she fired LaBeouf, who was initially cast opposite Pugh, in 2020 in order to create a “safe, trusting environment” on set, saying that his acting process “was not conducive to the ethos” that she demands in her productions.

However, LaBeouf, who is currently awaiting trial after being sued for “relentless abuse” by his former partner, the British musician FKA twigs, denied being fired. He sent Variety a video he claimed to have received from Wilde, which shows her asking him not to quit the project.

Shortly after the Venice Film Festival press conference for Don’t Worry Darling, Alex Ritman confirmed that he “just tried to ask Olivia Wilde a question about Shia LaBeouf” at the conference but “the festival wouldn’t let me”.

The festival organisers apparently suggested Ritman’s question had already “been answered” as part of Wilde’s comments on the alleged feud with Pugh, who skipped the press conference.

News that Pugh would not be attending the panel came amid reports of a feud between herself and Wilde that have been ongoing since earlier this year.

The Midsommar actor, 26, walked the red carpet for the film’s premiere, as it was reported that she would.

You can read The Independent’s review of Don’t Worry Darling here.