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Simon Cowell has weighed in on “Spitgate.”
The record executive, 62, who formed One Direction on The X Factor in 2010, defended Harry Styles‘ character this week on Jimmy Kimmel Live! after the boy band alum was accused of spitting on Don’t Worry Darling costar Chris Pine at the Venice International Film Festival.
“That doesn’t sound like Harry,” Cowell said, adding: “He definitely, definitely wouldn’t do that. That’s not Harry. Harry’s very polite and charming, he wouldn’t do that. … I will tell you, he’s a very, very, very nice guy.”
After Kimmel, 54, proposed that Styles, 28, might have spit “accidentally,” Cowell agreed: “I was thinking that, we all do that. You know when you gob on someone by accident, and you’re like, ‘I’m really sorry I did that.'”
The discourse came after social media dissected a video in which Styles appeared to spit on Pine, 42, as they took their seats at Monday’s world premiere of their new movie. Directed by Olivia Wilde, Don’t Worry Darling has already garnered attention and speculation over some alleged behind-the-scenes drama.
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A rep for Pine commented on the moment in an exclusive statement to PEOPLE: “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,” the rep added. “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.”
Although a rep for Styles did not respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment, the Grammy Award winner joked about the moment onstage at his Madison Square Garden concert on Wednesday, telling the audience he “just popped very quickly to Venice to spit on Chris Pine.”
RELATED VIDEO: Harry Styles Jokes During His Concert That He ‘Popped Very Quickly to Venice to Spit on Chris Pine’
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Styles and Olivia Pugh star in Don’t Worry Darling as Jack and Alice, a young married couple in the 1950s, living in the picturesque desert company town of Victory, Calif., where Alice becomes obsessed with the mysterious nature of Jack’s work as cracks begin to show in their utopian community.
Don’t Worry Darling premieres Sept. 23 in theaters.
