Olivia Wilde joined The Late Show With Stephen Colbert on Wednesday to promote her new film, Don’t Worry Darling, which she starred in and directed. Wilde also addressed the outrageous story that Harry Styles spit on Chris Pine, both of whom also star in the film, at the Venice Film Festival earlier this month. Representatives for Pine have already denied that the incident occurred, calling it a ridiculous story and a complete fabrication. And Wilde was also adamant that the rumors are false.
“People will look for drama anywhere they can,” Wilde said. “Harry did not spit on Chris.” “Time will tell,” Colbert joked. “No,” Wilde replied, “he really didn’t.”
Wilde pointed to a video of the alleged incident that circulated online as proof that Styles did not spit on Pine, and people are just seeing what they want to see.
“That is exactly what I mean though,” Wilde said. “People can look at a video that shows evidence of someone not spitting on someone else, and they’ll still see what they want to see. And that is the creation of drama, and that is clickbait.”
The film — which has been engulfed in behind-the-scenes intrigue, including Shia LaBeouf being replaced by Styles, Styles and Wilde developing a relationship on set, and reports of a rift between Wilde and co-star Florence Pugh — opens this weekend.
During her appearance with Colbert, Wilde addressed both the LaBeouf and Pugh situations.
LaBeouf denied Wilde’s assertion that he was fired from the film, providing text messages and emails suggesting he left of his own accord.
“It’s a question of semantics,” Wilde said of whether the actor quit or was fired. “It wasn’t going to move forward in the way that he wanted it to, and so he had to leave. ... We had to replace Shia. He is a fantastic actor, but it wasn’t going to work. When he gave me the ultimatum of him or Florence, I chose Florence.
“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,” she continued, referring to accusations of sexual abuse and battery made by LaBeouf’s ex-girlfriend FKA twigs.
As for her supposedly fraught relationship with Pugh, Wilde said: “I have nothing but respect for Florence’s talent. She’s fantastic. She’s on the set of her movie Dune right and there’s nothing cooler than a busy actress. I have nothing against her for any reason.
“The funny thing is — I don’t feel like my male director colleagues are answering questions about their cast.”
The Late Show With Stephen Colbert airs weeknights at 11:35 p.m. on CBS.
Check out how The Goldbergs killed off Jeff Garland's character on the season premiere: 'We will always love you':
Read more from Yahoo Entertainment:
The new Bachelor is announced and fans are overwhelmingly disappointed
John Oliver says it's 'pretty s****y' that his Queen Elizabeth joke was censored in the U.K.
Nervous singer faces her phobia on 'The Voice': 'Most awkward, horrifying situation'
Tell us what you think! Hit us up on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. And check out our host, Kylie Mar, on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.
