Remembering the wildest Venice Film Festival moment and Harry Styles’ infamous spit-gate
What a time.
The psychological thriller eventually hit the big screen in September 2022, and told the story of a seemingly perfect suburban life in the 1950s.
However, cracks form in Alice’s (Florence) marriage to Jack (Harry) when she is forced to question everything she’s known and whether their idealized community is real at all.
Chris and Florence were first announced for the Don’t Worry Darling cast in 2020 along with Shia LaBeouf, who was later replaced by Harry.
Olivia, who was behind the camera and also playing Bunny, later alleged that she fired the Transformers star as ‘his process was not conducive to the ethos that I demand in my productions’.
He hit back at her comments and insisted he chose to walk away from the project himself, sharing a video with Variety in which she infamously referred to Florence as ‘Miss Flo’.
Shia LeBeouf waded into the drama (Picture: WireImage)As the release date inched closer, eagle-eyed fans questioned whether the director and Dune actress were feuding – something Olivia denied in multiple interviews, while Florence’s team announced she was limiting her press tour just to Venice, as she was filming Dune 2.
At the press conference, the filmmaker was asked directly about the behind-the-scenes claims, replying: ‘Florence is a force; we are so grateful she is able to make it tonight [to the premiere] despite being in production.
‘As for all the endless tabloid gossip and noise out there, the internet feeds itself. I don’t feel I need to contribute to it.
‘It’s sufficiently well-nourished.’
Harry Styles’ movie feeling like a movie Harry Styles had some interesting answers to press questions (Picture: Getty)‘I find it really different. I think the fun part is that you never know what you’re doing in either one of them.’
Chris, on the other hand, had a very blank, very relatable face throughout the event.
Florence Pugh rocks up lateShortly before the aforementioned conference, it was announced that Florence was not taking part, but she would walk the red carpet with the rest of the cast, including Gemma Chan, Nick Kroll and Sydney Chandler.
When the Midsommar star did finally arrive in Venice, she immediately turned heads by stepping off a boat in a dreamy purple crop top with a matching jacket and shorts, paired with lilac heels and a bag, looking happier than ever.
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
Up Next
Previous Page Next PageA rep for Chris said at the time: ‘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.’
On his part, Harry made light of the allegations while on stage at his Love On Tour show at in New York a few weeks later, telling the crowd: ‘This is our 10th show at Madison Square Garden, it is wonderful, wonderful, wonderful to be back in New York.
‘I just popped very quickly to Venice to spit on Chris Pine but fear not, we’re back.’
Social media ran wild wild claims of ‘spit-gate’ (Picture: Twitter) The pair insisted that no saliva was exchanged (Picture: Twitter)Chris later doubled down on his denial during a chat with Esquire in 2023, while touching on the feud claims.
‘If there was drama, there was drama,’ he said of the now-infamous shoot. ‘I absolutely didn’t know about it, nor really would I have cared. If I feel badly, it’s because the vitriol that the movie got was absolutely out of proportion with what was onscreen.
‘Venice was normal things getting swept up in a narrative that people wanted to make, compounded by the metastasizing that can happen in the Twittersphere. It was ridiculous.’
‘All the memes I saw about my face in Venice made me f**king laugh,’ he added. ‘[Especially] me on an important zoom call watching my cat throw up on the sofa.
‘Sometimes the question’s not that interesting and you just f**king zone out, and you’re looking at a ceiling because it’s really pretty.’
Although no film has managed to match the pure, low-stakes chaos of the Don’t Worry Darling roll-out, we will always have the memories.
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us [email protected], calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.
Comment now Comments
