Chris Pine denies Harry Styles spit on him — and all the ‘Don’t Worry Darling’ drama
Don’t Worry Darling continues to generate a lot of press.
The Olivia Wilde–directed film premiered at the Venice Film Festival on Monday. While Wilde declared herself over the “endless tabloid gossip” around rumored friction among the cast, headlined by Florence Pugh and Harry Styles, social media clearly isn’t, as every interaction between the co-stars from weekend events are being analyzed. It’s led to one cast member — Chris Pine — officially denying that Styles spit on him at the premiere.
To back up, Shia LaBeouf was originally to star in the role that ultimately went to Styles. There is a discrepancy over whether Wilde fired LaBeouf (her take) or he quit (his take). Late last month, LaBeouf turned over to Variety a video he said Wilde sent him asking him to come back to the film. In the same video, Wilde referred to drama between him and Pugh, hinting that Pugh, whom she referred to with the condescending nickname “Miss Flo” needed “a wake-up call” to put her “mind and heart into” the project. Styles went on to land the role. Wilde and her fiancé Jason Sudeikis split while filming and Wilde started dating Styles. Wilde of course was served custody papers by Sudeikis while doing a presentation about the movie at CinemaCon in spring. Pugh, who has been critical of the way the film is being marketed, has done very little press for the film and hasn’t explicitly said why she’s distanced herself from the project, leading to no shortage of speculation.
That’s where we were on Sunday — press day for Don’t Worry Darling. Pugh did not attend the press conference or photo call with Wilde explaining to reporters her film’s lead was tied up filming Dune: Part Two. However, she said Pugh would make Monday’s premiere and gushed about her performance, calling her “a force” who turned in an “amazing” performance.
Wilde was asked directly about the reported rift between them and was dismissive in her response, saying, “As for all the endless tabloid gossip and all the noise out there, I mean, the internet feeds itself. I don’t feel the need to contribute. I think it’s sufficiently well-nourished.”
An event moderator later cut off another reporter asking Wilde to set the record straight about what happened with LaBeouf. She added, “I think that question has been answered” — despite the fact that she hasn’t publicly responded to LaBeouf’s claim that he quit and wasn’t fired.
With all that tension looming, Wilde was also careful not to be photographed next to Styles — who she has been dating since late 2020 — in Venice. They arrived separately in Italy, taking different boats to events, and wouldn’t stand next to each other for photos. Any pictures of them side-by-side fuel tabloid stories, so they kept their distance. Pine has had his work cut out for him acting like a buffer.
On Monday, Pugh announced her arrival in Venice on social media with just two words: “I’m here.”
The actress brought her grandmother Pat as her plus-one — and perhaps it was a strategic move as well. After all, maybe there would be fewer prying questions with her granny by her side as she faced the press. Pugh’s arrival — in a purple Valentino outfit — quickly went viral and was a whole big mood.
Pugh joined the cast at the premiere on Monday night — in a show-stopping Valentino gown. The look featured a sheer black corset-like bodice with a sparkly cape and train.
She made such an entrance, even Pine stopped to take it all in — and photograph her. She shared warm greetings with him and co-stars Nick Kroll, Sydney Chandler and Gemma Chan.
On the other hand, she kept a healthy distance from her onscreen husband Styles and from Wilde, who acts in the film in addition to directing. In fact, the group photo of them all makes for awkward viewing with Wilde and Styles standing several feet apart at all times on purpose — and neither of them sharing air space with Pugh.
Here is a rear view as well. Pugh not touching Wilde. Wilde not touching Styles.
On the carpet, Pugh was reportedly asked what she found inspiring in the film and, again, gave a response that fuels rumors of a rift.
“I think it’s very, very inspiring to see a woman push back and say ‘no,’ and question everything,” she replied. “It’s very exciting to see a woman do that on and off camera.”
While she has continued to keep her comments like this vague — and hasn’t cleared up speculation on social media, which she routinely does when she is the target of gossip — Pugh’s stylist, Rebecca Corbin-Murray, fanned the flames good and hard when she posted photos of Pugh at the premiere with the caption “Miss Flo” — Wilde’s needling nickname for Pugh in the leaked video to LaBeouf.
The film screened and received a four-minute ovation. Social media has been hotly debating whether or not Pugh acknowledged Wilde during it.
There was another raging debate over whether Styles spit on Pine at the premiere. And, yes, you read that right — we are discussing two grown men and saliva. As Styles sat down, he faced Pine and something unseen caused Pine to stop clapping, look down at his lap and make a strange face.
The debate over spit-gate led Pine to officially deny he was spat upon. His rep told Variety on Tuesday, “This is a ridiculous story — a complete fabrication and the result of an odd online illusion that is clearly deceiving and allows for foolish speculation. Just to be clear, Harry Styles did not spit on Chris Pine. 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.”
Pine did look anguished doing press at times for this film. Another video of Pine and Styles went viral because Pine looked zoned out as Styles explained to a reporter why he liked making the thriller, one of his first movies as he branches out from pop stardom.
“My favorite thing about the movie is like it feels like a movie,” Styles said as Pine stared into space. “It feels like a real movie. Go to the theater film. The reason why you go to watch something on the big screen.”
Twitter users described it as “Chris Pine astral projecting.”
Amid all this drama, there are also rumors of stress on Wilde and Style’s relationship. Video has surfaced with Twitter users claiming Styles said no when told to stand near Wilde for a photograph.
He may very well have — they were clearly avoiding being photographed together — but they did, however, steal little moments, like this one.
