Chris Pine breaks silence on Harry Styles’ spitting incident, says 'it did look like...'

American actor Chris Pine has finally given a clarification about last year’s viral video in which Harry Styles appeared to be spitting on him during the Venice Film Festival premiere of their movie Don't Worry Darling. According to The Hollywood Reporter, a USA-based entertainment news outlet, in a video accompanying an Esquire profile, Pine said, "Harry did not spit on me. Harry’s a very, very kind guy."

The actor guessed that Styles was saying something to him in the much-discussed moment, perhaps, "It’s just words, isn’t it?". His remarks echo those of director Olivia Wilde, who insisted last fall on Stephen Colbert’s Late Show that Styles did not spit on Pine.

The Hollywood Reporter reported that in the Esquire video, Pine added, "We had this little joke because we’re all jet-lagged; we’re all trying to answer these questions. And sometimes when you’re doing these press things, your brain goes befuddled and you start speaking gibberish. But it’s just words, man."

Pine stated that he learned about the incident on his flight back from Venice. He was sleeping when his publicist woke him up "in a state" and told him, "We have to craft a message about what happened." He had no idea what his rep was talking about, so she showed him the video, and Pine admits that it "does indeed look like he’s spitting on me" in the clip. He didn’t spit on me."

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At the time, Pine’s rep said of the rumours of Styles spitting on her client: "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", she continued, as per The Hollywood Reporter.

In September 2022, a video went viral that showed Styles entering a row of seats for the movie screening while avoiding eye contact with his co-star Florence Pugh and his then-girlfriend and director Olivia Wilde. Suddenly, as he moves to sit down, something seems to fly out of his mouth, and Pine looks down at his pants before pausing and laughing at what just happened.

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