There was controversy surrounding Harry Styles and Chris Pine at the Venice Film Festival after it was alleged that Styles spit on Pine.

The incident quickly went viral and generated many comments, but now the situation has been clarified.

The alleged spitting incident occurred when Styles was walking to his seat and appeared to spit in the direction of Pine, who seemed puzzled.

However, it has now been revealed that the spitting was actually a joke and no spitting occurred.

Harry Styles spits on Chris Pines lap?? pic.twitter.com/qsX3eaNstQ

— The Silly Realm (@thesillyrealm) September 6, 2022

Nick Kroll, a co-star of Styles and Pine, has revealed that he was the mastermind behind the prank.

Kroll joked that he asked Styles to perform the spit on Pine, and Styles agreed but ultimately decided not to go through with it.

Kroll explained the incident on The Tonight Show, saying, “I was like, ‘Hey, Harry, you know what would be a great idea? When you walk into the premiere in Venice, spit on Chris Pine.’ And he was like, ‘Got it,’ but then he was like, ‘I don’t know if that’s going to work.’ So I said, ‘Maybe you should just, you know, give me a kiss,’ and it happened.”

Despite Kroll’s explanation, Pine’s rep has denied that the incident took place.

However, Kroll seems to be happy about all the attention the prank has received, as it has generated publicity for the movie “Don’t Worry Darling,” which debuted at number one at the domestic box office last weekend.

Harry Styles kisses Nick Kroll during the standing ovation for #DontWorryDarling. #Venezia79 pic.twitter.com/xqVPtOjwFT

— Ramin Setoodeh (@RaminSetoodeh) September 5, 2022

Kroll stated that he wanted to create buzz for the movie, but not necessarily about the movie itself.

“The movie, if you haven’t seen it yet, is a thriller, and I think the less you know about the movie, the better so that when you see it everything is new and surprising. So I decided to make a lot of buzz around the movie, but not about the movie itself, right? I’m the puppeteer,” Kroll said on The Tonight Show.

In the end, it seems that the alleged spitting incident was just a joke and no spitting actually occurred. Instead, Styles and Kroll shared a kiss.

While the incident may have caused some confusion and controversy, it ultimately served as a way to generate buzz for the movie “Don’t Worry Darling,” which was released to great success at the box office.