Olivia Wilde addresses rumor Harry Styles spit on Chris Pine in Venice: 'People will look for drama'
Wilde spoke about the drama surrounding 'Don't Worry Darling,' including the Shia LaBeouf firing claim
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
Olivia Wilde addressed all the drama surrounding her film "Don't Worry Darling" during a late night TV experience.
Wilde confirmed that Harry Styles did not spit on Chris Pine at the Venice Film Festival in early September while speaking to Stephen Colbert. "Spit-Gate," as Wilde referred to it, occurred after a video of Styles heading to his seat went viral on the internet. In the video, it seemingly appeared like the "Watermelon Sugar" singer spit on Pine.
However, Wilde said it never happened.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
"Another one of our weird rumors, Spit-Gate, which you might have heard about, is I think…" Wilde began before Colbert interrupted her.
‘DON’T WORRY DARLING' STARS FLORENCE PUGH, CHRIS PINE REVEAL WHY THEY SKIPPED NEW YORK PREMIERE
"Did Harry Styles spit on Chris Pine? Why or why not? Support your answer," the comedian read off a note card.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
"No, he did not," the director emphasized. "But I think it’s a perfect example of, like, people will look for drama anywhere they can. Harry did not spit on Chris, in fact…" she explained before Colbert cut her off again.
"Only time will tell," he quipped.
"No, he really didn't!" Wilde reiterated.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
After the moment went viral, a representative for Pine immediately denied the spit occurred.
"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," Pine's representative told Fox News Digital at the time. "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," the rep added.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER
What many believed to be Styles spitting at Pine as he took his seat inside the theater was just an illusion, despite the tense situations surrounding the film almost since its inception more than two years ago.
Wilde also addressed the drama surrounding the long ago exit of Shia LaBeouf, who was originally set to star in the film. Wilde claimed in an interview with Variety that the "Transformers" star was fired. However, following the publication of the interview LaBeouf came out and said he quit "Don't Worry Darling."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
"Early on in the process of making the film, as the director I tried to mediate a situation between people to try to see if they can work together happily. Once it became clear that it was not a tenable working relationship, I was given an ultimatum, I chose my actress, which I'm very happy I did," Wilde told Colbert.
"At the time, was I bummed that we weren't able to make it work? Sure. Did information about him come to light later that made me confident we made the right decision? Absolutely."
Wilde seemingly dodged making a firm statement on if LaBeouf quit or was fired.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
"We had to replace Shia. He is a fantastic actor, but it wasn't gonna work," she further explained. "When he gave me the ultimatum of him or Florence, I chose Florence, and that was him feeling he was stepping away and me feeling like we were moving on without him."
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
"It's a question of semantics," she added. "... It wasn't going to move forward in the way that he wanted it to, and so he had to leave."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
LaBeouf's role was given to Styles.
Fox News Digital's Mariah Haas contributed to this report.