Harry Styles and Chris Pine take the Internet by storm with spitting incident
Any Harry Styles fan could tell you about his iconic tour performances of his song “Kiwi.” He jumps around the stage, dancing crazily and, as a finale, fills up his mouth with water and spews it up into the air like a whale (I know it sounds ridiculous but if you’ve listened to “Kiwi” you’d understand). Harry Styles then, is no amatuer to expelling water from his mouth.
Despite this common knowledge (to Harries that is), the internet was overcome when it appeared that Harry Styles, at the Venice International Film Festival preview of the psychological thriller “Don’t Worry Darling” (starring Harry Styles and Florence Pugh), spit on his co-star Chris Pine. The video of the alleged spitting has circulated everywhere on the internet, with many condemning Styles for this completely unprofessional and childish behavior, while others insist there must have been another explanation of Pine’s reaction to Styles allegedly spitting on him.
In the video, Styles is getting into his seat next to Pine when he moves his mouth in what looks like a spitting motion (though no spit can be seen in the air) and Pine reacts by looking down where the spit would have landed and chuckles to himself. Harry Styles obviously did something that caused a reaction from Chris Pine. Whether that actually was spitting or something else he did or said is debatable.
Both Styles and Pine, or at least Pine’s representatives, have addressed the spitting, insisting that the incident is a “complete fabrication” and that “There is nothing but respect between these two men…” Styles has addressed this incident publicly by joking about it at one of his tour performances. A video from him at Madison Square Garden shows him saying, “I just popped very quickly to Venice to spit on Chris Pine.”
However, if Harry Styles did spit on Chris Pine, it could have been because of all the tensions that have been running high surrounding the release of “Don’t Worry Darling.” The actors and director, Olivia Wilde, struggled to get along both on and off the red carpet. Several stories have come out about the filming, such as a switch in the casting of Jack, Harry Styles’ character. Shia LaBeouf was initially cast, but then Wilde fired him to ensure a smoother working environment for Florence Pugh (Wilde expressed a desire to ensure that Florence Pugh felt safe and comfortable to film and that Shia LaBouf’s process was not conducive to that). However, as Shia LaBouf tells it, he quit and Oliva Wilde begged him to come back, going so far as to send a video to both him and Florence Pugh, asking them to try to work it out.
Once Harry Styles was hired, however, Olivia Wilde seemed to have few complaints about the casting of Jack. In fact, she and Harry Styles have since then started dating. Though not uncommon for actors and directors to date, it is a bit unprofessional. In addition, once the film was being publicized by cast and crew, Florence Pugh, arguably one of the biggest stars of the film, did very little to publicize the film, suggesting that she wished to distance herself from the film and Olivia Wilde. No exact information has come out concerning why Florence Pugh might be frustrated, though she has expressed unhappiness with how the movie was being received, mostly due to Harry Styles’ involvement and the reaction from his fans. She stated that she was annoyed with how all the reactions were focusing on the sex scenes between her and Styles in the film. “When its reduced to your sex scenes or to watch the most famous man in the world go down on someone, it’s not why we do it. It’s not why I’m in this industry.” Pugh said.
Florence Pugh was also absent for most of the press tour promoting “Don’t Worry Darling,” though she was able to make it to the Venice Film Festival Premiere, where the supposed spitting took place. Although Florence was not present for most of the tour, Olivia Wilde was glowing with praise for her, a sentiment that Pugh has not publicly returned. In fact, at the film festival most of the actors and director were not engaging in direct interaction with each other or sitting next to each other, except Chris Pine and Harry Styles, of course. This apparent tension, potentially caused by the behind-the-scenes drama, could have been the reason for Harry Styles to spit on Chris Pine, or it could have been the reason the internet was so quick to declare that he did.
“Don’t Worry Darling” looks to be another classic case of he-said, she-said Hollywood drama that will feed into the rumor mill and cause us to have a sour taste in our mouths when referring to certain Hollywood celebrities. Key phrase of that being he-said, she-said. Most Hollywood drama is given to us, the overly curious public, through bits and pieces, and even then these bits are presented through a certain lens. Did Harry Styles actually spit on Chris Pine? Maybe he did, but I think the internet is always on the lookout for drama and for finding an explanation to a situation that we are not involved in.
