Did Harry Styles spit on Chris Pine? The Don’t Worry Darling conspiracy, explained

Fans have been poring over footage from the premiere of Don’t Worry Darling in a bid to answer a pressing question: did Harry Styles spit on Chris Pine? The game’s afoot!

Depending on where you are in the world, you’re either submerged in a blanketed, pillowed ditch with only the pale glow of your phone in your face, or you’ve not long awoken, taking your first social media scroll of the day.

No matter the time, no matter the feed, fresh drama has people diving down a Pepe Silvia rabbit hole. Of course, it’s stemmed from the most beleaguered press tour of the year, for Don’t Worry Darling.

The upcoming film – starring Florence Pugh and Harry Styles as lovers in a suspicious utopia – has a contagious strain of controversy, it seems, but the latest beef is the tastiest yet.

Did Harry Styles spit on Chris Pine at the Don’t Worry Darling premiere? First, the footage

There are two clips we should be focusing on: one shared by @Mac70J is filmed facing Olivia Wilde, Pine, and Styles as he takes his seat; the other was shared by Variety’s Ramin Setoodeh, filmed side-on from a distance and facing Styles as he walks to his seat. You can watch them both below:

Regardless of which clip, the moment of contention is the same: Styles walks up to his seat, appears to make a quick spitting motion, at which point Pine stops clapping, shakes his head and laughs to himself, while Styles doesn’t appear to say hello to Wilde – his girlfriend – or the Star Trek actor.

Did Harry Styles spit on Chris Pine? The arguments in favor

Before we really analyze the clip itself, let’s look at the background. At the film’s press conference yesterday, September 5, Pine went viral for his facial expression while Styles unintelligibly nattered on about his how “favorite thing about the movie is it feels like a movie.”

His face wasn’t dissimilar to Patrick Bateman’s at the end of American Psycho; one with an absolute absence of care or interest, puzzled into a state of numbness at Styles talking about acting. Could Styles have seen this and taken offence, leading to “spitgate”?

The videos have been slowed down, reduced to single frames flicked back and forward with arrow keys. It’s almost unarguable that it certainly looks like he spits on him, from the narrowing of Styles’ cheeks to Pine’s glance down and bemused reaction as he halts his applause.

Another super-slow-mo edit, shared by @Batmancanceeu, appears to show the briefest flicker of spit on Pine’s jacket, but this could also be something reflecting the light in his breast pocket.

One may also ask: why would Pine just sit and take it if another actor spat on him in public? Well, it’s a sensible question, but in the new era of instant publicity – where something as simple as a blank face can lead to you trending – would you not bite down and wait it out?

Did Harry Styles spit on Chris Pine? The arguments against

The biggest argument against the conspiracy is also the sanest one: why on earth would one of the biggest pop stars in the world jeopardize his good graces with the public by spitting on his co-star at the premiere of his movie, where everyone can see them from multiple angles?

It also has to be said: in all of the clips, while Styles may look as if he spits, there’s no visible saliva leaving his mouth or making contact with Pine.

Others have noticed how Pine picks up his sunglasses from between his legs, suggesting his mind may have been distracted and wondering where he left them, only to realize they’ve been in his lap the entire time – hence him shaking his head and laughing at himself.

“Chris Pine just wondered where his sunglasses were after the applause. And he zoned out (like he’s been doing all day) and realized it’s in his lap. So I am sorry to say Harry Styles did not spit on him,” one user wrote.

“Before talking sh*t first look, how Harry is going to spit on Chris with his MOUTH CLOSED and in a place FULL OF CAMERAS, it is known that gringos are dump but please, use your head a little bit,” another tweeted.

However, Chris Pine’s representatives have come out and said that Harry Styles did not spit on their client. The statement calls the story “ridiculous” and “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,” the statement concludes and says that the two actors have a mutual respect.

Don’t Worry Darling is due for release on September 23, and we’re currently zero days without some sort of incident.