Harry Styles jokes about ‘spitting’ on Chris Pine in Venice during latest concert. Watch

Harry Styles might not have spit at Chris Pine at the screening of their film Don’t Worry Darling in Venice, but he is not letting go of the opportunity for a joke. As he returned to Madison Square Garden for a concert, Harry joked about the episode. (Also read: Internet is in a meltdown after video of Harry Styles ‘spitting’ on Chris Pine emerges. What’s your verdict?)

Taking over the mic, Harry told the audience, “This is our tenth show at Madison Square Garden. It’s wonderful, wonderful, wonderful to be back in New York. I just popped very quickly to Venice to spit on Chris Pine.” His fans broke into big laughs and cheers at his joke.

Earlier, even Chris Pine’s representative had said that the rumours about the actor get spat on were untrue. “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,” Chris’ representative had told Variety.

A video of actor Chris Pine went viral from the world premiere of Don’t Worry Darling in which Harry apparently could be seen spitting on Chris although the act could not be 100% confirmed by the recordings. This is just the latest controversy that the movie has faced.

Don’t Worry Darling’ press tour had been dogged by rumours of an apparent feud between director Olivia Wilde and lead star Florence Pugh for weeks. The two did not appear together on the Venice red carpet, nor did they embrace or glance at each other until after the film received a four-minute standing ovation from the Venice audience.

During a press conference at the Venice Film festival, Olivia Wilde stated, “Florence is a force. We are so grateful she’s able to make it tonight despite being in production on ‘Dune.’ I know, as a director, how disruptive it is to lose an actor even for a day, so I’m very grateful to her, and to Denis Villeneuve for helping us. And we’ll get to celebrate her work tonight. I can’t say how honoured I am to have her as our lead. She’s amazing.”