Chris Pine denies that Harry Styles spat on him at the Venice Film Festival

This is what's going on with the cast of "Don't Worry Darling" 3:40

(CNN) --

The internet hasn't stopped talking about "#spitgate," the term that was born online last year when viral footage from the Venice Film Festival showed singer-actor Harry Styles performing a move that made some thought she had spat on her "Don't Worry Darling" co-star Chris Pine.

Months after the September 2022 controversy, Pine himself finally entered the conversation to end it.

"Harry didn't spit on me," Pine told Esquire in an interview published Wednesday.

He added that he thinks Styles is a "very, very nice guy."

Pine said he had seen the footage and admitted that it "looks, in fact, as if Harry is spitting on me."

• What happened between Harry Styles and Chris Pine at the Venice Film Festival?

  Here we explain it to you

The "Star Trek" actor went on to clarify what really happened, explaining that Styles leaned into Pine to say, "They're just words, aren't they?"

The comment, according to Pine, came down to a "little joke" the cast of "Don't Worry Darling" had with each other about interacting with the media while promoting the film, which was the purpose of their appearance in Venice at that time. time.

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(From left) Olivia Wilde, Chris Pine, Harry Styles and Gemma Chan at the Venice Film Festival in 2022. Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images

While this is the first time that Pine has directly addressed the incident, a representative for the actor had previously issued a statement denying that anything malicious occurred between Pine and Styles.

Olivia Wilde, who directed and also starred in "Don't Worry Darling," echoed the sentiment weeks later, telling Stephen Colbert that Harry "didn't spit on Chris."

He added that the viral video is "a perfect example of people going for drama wherever they can," which was apparently a reference to the many boisterous narratives that came out of the film's production and subsequent promotion.

Even Styles himself joked about the incident during one of his concerts.

Looks like there's no need to worry now, darling.

Everything is fine between Styles and Pine.

Harry Styles