Chris Pine Was A Last Minute No-Show on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ Amid ‘Don’t Worry Darling’ Drama, So Kathy Griffin Filled in and Brought Spit Jokes with Her

Chris Pine was a “last-minute” no-show on last night’s episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live, but Kathy Griffin was on hand to save the day. The comedian, who was pulled-in to fill Pine’s spot on Wednesday (Sept. 21), joked about the actor’s absence, telling the audience Pine was skipping Kimmel’s show because he was afraid of talking about drama surrounding his new film, Don’t Worry Darling.

After Kimmel greeted Griffin and introduced her to the audience, she put a stop to the pleasantries and got right down to it.

“Now look — let’s not B.S. the audience. I’m here, as usual, because a more famous person fell out,” Griffin said bluntly.

“But get this, it was Chris Pine, who Harry Styles spit on. So he doesn’t want to be here and get this one [Kimmel] giving him the questions,” she continued, as Kimmel confirmed, “You’re filling in for Chris Pine.”

Styles was accused of spitting on Pine during the Don’t Worry Darling premiere in at the Venice Film Festival earlier this month, and after the moment caused an absolute internet frenzy, Pine’s rep was forced to release a statement denying the “complete fabrication” and “ridiculous story.”

Now, back to Griffin, who joked that she was chosen specifically because of her own slobbery career history, telling Kimmel, “But here’s the thing, the reason you called me is, you know I’ve been spit on my whole career, and I actually was even spit on once by Harry Styles. And I’m here!”

He asked, “No — you were spit on by Harry Styles?” to which Griffin quipped, “I asked him to. I asked him to.”

Kimmel smoothed the bit over by telling his guest, “I think there’s no greater compliment to a guest than the idea that we know you’re ready at all times. You’re like a gunslinger. You’re like a box of spaghetti in the cabinet and you’re like, it’s always good.”

While Griffin joked about Pine skipping Kimmel’s show to avoid tough questions about Don’t Worry Darling, his absence might have stirred up even more drama for the embattled Olivia Wilde project. The film has been mired in controversy for the past month, and after photos of Pine looking bored and disinterested at the Venice Film Festival swirled around Twitter a few weeks ago, his lack of promo last night doesn’t exactly convince us he isn’t totally checked out of the movie. According to Roger Friedman’s Showbiz 411, Pine also “refused to participate in a live Q&A for Don’t Worry Darling with IMAX on Monday night. The rest of the cast, except for Florence Pugh, participated from the Manhattan location, including Styles and director Olivia Wilde, who sat at opposite ends of the lined up chairs.”

Jimmy Kimmel Live airs weeknights at 11:35/10:35c on ABC. Watch Griffin’s full appearance in the video above.