Fans Are Convinced That Harry Styles Spit On Chris Pine During ‘Don’t Worry Darling’ Premiere

The gossip surrounding Olivia Wilde’s Don’t Worry Darling reached fever pitch on Monday night, as #SpitGate began trending on Twitter after a strange video of Harry Styles and Chris Pine at the Venice International Film Festival went viral.

The clip shows Styles pursing his lips, before taking his seat beside Pine – Pine quickly glances down at his lap, seemingly in disbelief. To many viewers, the viral clip appeared to show Styles spitting on Pine’s lap, while others dismissed the claim as ridiculous. At the very least, the video seems to have caught an awkward moment between the two actors.

While it’s incredibly unlikely that an actor would spit on his co-star in public, on camera, during the premiere of their new film, the footage was just uncanny enough to leave fans questioning what had happened.

Pine does seem to react to something – perhaps his phone lit up with a notification, or maybe the sunglasses on his lap shifted. Extended footage shows the two casually chatting after the alleged incident, while footage taken at alternative angles don’t seem to show any sign of spitting – the evidence is shaky, at best, and fans seem to have let their imaginations run wild.

While #SpitGate seems to be a borderline conspiratorial, extremely online moment, the story was likely fueled by the extraordinary amount of drama that occurred behind the scenes of Don’t Worry Darling, spicy gossip involving sex, lies and simmering feuds.

Rumors swirled around production, speculation that the romance between Wilde and Styles led to tension on set, with Florence Pugh appearing to avoid promoting the film on social media, sparking speculation that Pugh and Wilde had fallen out.

Styles had stepped up to replace Shia LaBeouf, who Wilde implied she had fired due to his “combative energy,” and to keep Pugh “safe” on set. This claim was disputed by LaBeouf, who insisted that he had quit the movie of his own accord.

LaBeouf’s claim was soon backed up by a leaked video message that Wilde sent to LaBeouf in 2020, in which she asks him to return to set, and seems to dismissively refer to Pugh as “Miss Flo.”

Wilde did her best to dampen the rumors during the press junket of Don’t Worry Darling, but was somewhat undermined by the fact that Pugh skipped it entirely, her plane landing just in time for the premiere of the film. Of course, Pugh’s careful timing only fueled the flames of gossip.

Footage of said premiere led many fans to believe that Pugh and Wilde were purposely keeping their distance from one another, while others pointed out that Styles also seemed to be avoiding Wilde, sparking speculation that the two had broken up.

#SpitGate was likely accelerated by these layers of tension; fans were under the impression that the cast and crew were barely concealing their dislike of one another. Right before #SpitGate, an amusing clip of Styles and Pine went viral, showing Styles’ meandering, almost incoherent description of Don’t Worry Darling, while Pine sits stiff and expressionless next to him.

“You know, my favorite thing about the movie is, like, it feels like a movie,” Styles said. “It feels like a real, like, you know, ‘go to the theater’ film movie.”

The clip echoed the famous footage of Ben Affleck sitting in silence after critics slaughtered Batman v Superman, which instantly exploded into the “Sad Affleck” meme, remixed with the song “The Sounds of Silence.”

While the behind-the-scenes drama seems more interesting than the film itself (which received mixed reviews), the #SpitGate controversy is a wild leap of imagination. Gossip-hungry fans, however, seem to have been having fun; compared to some of the nastier stories that come out of Hollywood, the Don’t Worry Darling gossip is comparatively lighthearted.

Fans jokingly compared the “investigation” to the Seinfeld episode “The Magic Loogie,” in which Kramer believes a wad of spit ricocheted off his back.

While Don’t Worry Darling wasn’t particularly well-received, the frenzied gossip surrounding its production might just give the film a good boost at the box office – indifferent viewers might be curious to see how the drama translated to the performances on screen.

At the very least, the movie should, as Styles claims, “feel like a movie.”

Update: Chris Pine’s rep has released a statement to PEOPLE, clarifying that Harry Styles did not spit on Chris Pine. The rep stated: “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.”