Harry Styles jokes that he DID actually spit on Chris Pine at the Don't Worry Darling premiere

It was the spit heard around the world. With the internet consumed by drama and gossip surrounding the upcoming movie Don't Worry Darling, some eagle-eyed observers were certain they saw Harry Styles spit on costar Chris Pine as the actors took their seats at its premiere at the Venice Film Festival. The claim was debunked by Pine's rep — but the pop superstar had something different to say when he returned to play Madison Square Garden this week.

"I just popped over quickly to Venice to spit on Chris Pine," Styles joked on stage during his latest performance of his 15-show run at New York City's grandest arena. "But fear not, we're back!"

Adoring fans responded to his impishness by, you guessed it, screaming. They have surely been following the internet drama accompanying Styles' second film (after 2017's Dunkirk). Styles started dating Wilde during the production of Don't Worry Darling, but he was originally cast as a replacement for its original star Shia LaBeouf. However, it recently became clear that LaBoeuf and Wilde have different recollections of how and why he left the project.

While Styles joked about the drama, his costar Florence Pugh has stayed quiet. She skipped the Venice press conference, and still hasn't mentioned the film by name in social media posts. This has led some to speculate that she has some kind of beef with Wilde, perhaps because of tension on set between Pugh and LaBeouf, or between Pugh and Wilde, or among Pugh and Wilde and Styles.

But Wilde dismissed those rumors in a new interview with Vanity Fair: "I didn't hire her to post. I hired her to act."

Regardless, Styles may have a multifaceted career in movies ahead of him. Not only is his third big role, in the upcoming My Policeman, on the horizon, but Wilde told Vanity Fair that in addition to starring in Don't Worry Darling, he composed original music for it — specifically, a "trigger song" that signifies the unease lurking beneath the seemingly happy 1950s-style community at the center of the film.

"He will absolutely end up scoring films for fun," Wilde said.

Watch Styles crack wise above via Instagram, and read Wilde's new interview at Vanity Fair.

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