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A Harry Styles quote about movies is going viral amid suggestions he spat on co-star Chris Pine.
While speaking at the Venice International Film Festival's press conference for Don't Worry Darling on Monday, September 5, the One Direction alum, 28, said the best thing about the movie he's in is that it's a movie.
"You know, my favorite thing about the movie is, like, it feels like a movie," he told reporters. "It feels like a real, like, you know, go-to-the-theater-film movie."
"It's fun to play in worlds that aren't necessary your own," he added. "This world is supposedly so perfect; it was fun to play pretend in it. It's like driving fun cars, a lot of fun stuff as well."
A video of Pine's blank stare while Styles spoke has garnered more than 9.8 million views on Twitter at the time of publication.
"You can almost see the screams catching in his throat," one person wrote via the social media platform of the Wonder Woman star, 42.
"Poor Chris Pine looks like he's rather be anywhere else on the planet," someone else said, while a third chimed in, "PLEASE. I thought this was a joke. Then I actually listened to the initial clip of him talking…..and it's his actual quote. Oh noooo, lmao."
"Someone needs to rescue this man," a fourth commented, and a fifth joked, "Me tryna get my word count on a essay."
Others, however, defended the "As It Was" singer.
"When I heard it too I was like uh bit cringe, but you can get what he means + it's understandable to not have your best words when you've been touring for multiple months in multiple countries + a jet lag," a separate user tweeted. "Some empathy is too much for Twitter."
Another agreed, writing: "I mean, I understood what he meant. Most young people won't and that's OK. Movies aren't the same anymore, everything is showed online on streaming networks or just watched individually. He meant that the film had that theater feel to it, that nostalgia of a theater movie."
In a separate video making the rounds on Twitter and TikTok, fans have been debating whether Styles spat on Pines.
The moment in question took place at the film's premiere on Monday evening as the England native took his assigned seat next to the Star Trek star. In the clip, Styles appeared to spit at Pines, who looked down and stopped clapping before seemingly shaking his head.
Newsweek reached out to Styles' and Pine's representatives for comment.
Don't Worry Darling has been plagued by controversy since rumors of tension between director Olivia Wilde and leading lady Florence Pugh first began circulating. Feud speculation was fueled even more after Wilde, 38, claimed she fired actor Shia LaBeouf from the movie, though he told Variety they simply had scheduling conflicts.
When asked about the drama during the presser, Wilde tiptoed around the subject, saying that "the internet feeds itself."
"I don't feel the need to contribute. I think it's sufficiently well nourished."
Don't Worry Darling hits theaters in the U.S. on Friday, September 23.
About the writer
Megan Cartwright is Newsweek's Deputy Entertainment Editor, based in London, U.K. Her focus is on U.S. pop culture and entertainment ... Read more