Did Harry Styles spit on Chris Pine during the premiere of “Don’t Worry Darling” at the Venice Film Festival?
There’s no spit easily visible in any of the angles of the event being shared on social media. But folks on Twitter are treating video of the brief moment like the Zapruder Film, looking for clues as to what might’ve happened between the two.
The footage showed Styles taking a seat next to Pine, who was applauding. Just before sitting, Styles’ lips move. Pine looks down at his lap or feet, stops clapping and then appears amused:
Here’s another angle:
The moment caused #SpitGate to trend on Twitter, and inspired a level of obsession reminiscent of a “Seinfeld” gag involving spit, which itself was a joke about the conspiracy theories surrounding the JFK assassination:
The incident might have been little noticed if not for the growing drama over the film, which has led to some outsized attention of off-screen issues, such as the back-and-forth over whether or not director Olivia Wilde fired actor Shia LaBeouf or he quit, and reports of tensions between Wilde and star Florence Pugh.
The movie’s premiere earned a 5-minute ovation at the festival. However, the reviews have been somewhat less kind, with the film sitting at 42% on Rotten Tomatoes as of Monday evening.
Fans won’t be able to decide for themselves until “Don’t Worry Darling” hits theaters on Sept. 23.
For now, they can enjoy the latest (non)drama around the film: