Harry Styles and Olivia Wilde passionately kiss on date night ahead of Don’t Worry Darling release

Harry Styles and Olivia Wilde were spotted passionately kissing during a romantic night out together in New York City on Thursday amid the ongoing controversy surrounding their new movie Don’t Worry Darling, which is being released in cinemas this week. 

It is the first time the couple have been seen acting affectionate towards each other in public after weeks of keeping their distance while promoting the drama-riddled project, which sees Harry star opposite lead actress Florence Pugh. 

Wilde, 38, has faced ongoing mounting drama around the film, amid reports that she fell out with Pugh, 26, who was allegedly angered by Wilde’s relationship with Styles, 28, getting in the way of making the movie – with an insider alleging this week that the pair even had a ‘screaming match.’ 

It also comes amid the director’s continued custody war with her ex Jason Sudeikis, with whom she shares two children; Otis, eight, and Daisy, five. Wilde’s daughter also appears in the film in a cameo role. 

With too much focus on Wilde’s romantic relationship with Styles, the pair have been keeping their distance when promoting the film – only appearing together in group cast shots at premieres in Venice and more recently New York.  

However, the couple appear to be still very much in love as they were seen locking lips on a New York City sidewalk this Thursday, just as the former One Director star had completed a staggering 15 shows performing at Madison Square Garden. 

Harry and Olivia threw their arms around one another as they kissed outside while enjoying a date night on the eve of their film release.

They clung together as they emerged from the restaurant, and Harry flung an arm lovingly over his girlfriend’s shoulders while they headed down the street.

Olivia cut a subtly elegant figure in a sleek black blazer over a white top, opting for a fitted ensemble that emphasized her enviably petite frame.

Sweeping her luxurious dark hair into an updo, she lent a touch of glitz to the outfit with jewelry including a gleaming gold bracelet.

Meanwhile the One Direction alum, who has drawn attention for his gender-bending photo-shoots in the past, accessorized his look with a hairclip.

Olivia has been facing down a deluge of controversies surrounding Don’t Worry Darling, including persistent rumors that she feuded on set with Florence.

A report in Page Six claimed Florence took issue with Olivia for supposedly taking up with Harry while still engaged to Jason Sudeikis.

Olivia, who has two children with Jason, has staunchly denied cheating on him with Harry and has slammed rumors of her infidelity as ‘complete horses***.’ 

Now an on set source has told Vulture that Florence and Olivia erupted into a ‘screaming match’ during the shoot because the director had a tendency to ‘just disappear’ with Harry.

Florence has scarcely done any media for Don’t Worry Darling, resulting in the initial round of rumors that she had a rift with her director.

She then sent the feud speculation into overdrive when she suddenly pulled out of a press conference for Don’t Worry Darling at the Venice Film Festival this month.

Although Florence withdrew from the presser last minute, she did manage to attend the movie’s red carpet premiere at the film festival later that day.

Florence, who cited scheduling conflicts with the shoot of the Dune sequel as her reason for skipping the press conference, was spotted on her stylist’s Instagram enjoying an Aperol Spritz in Venice.

Olivia appeared on Stephen Colbert’s late-night show this week and denied feuding with her ‘sensational’ leading lady, whom she hailed as a ‘superhero.’

She blamed sexism for the conjecture, arguing that her ‘male director colleagues’ were not ‘answering’ questions about their equation with their actors.

‘I have nothing but respect for Florence’s talent. She’s fantastic,’ Olivia maintained. ‘I have nothing against her for any reason.’

Another one of Don’t Worry Darling’s scandals involved Shia LaBeouf, who was supposed to be the leading man of the film before Harry took over.

Olivia initially claimed that she fired Shia because of her ‘no a**hole policy,’ saying is process was ‘not conducive to the ethos that I demand in my productions.’

Shia, who is currently being accused of abuse by his ex-girlfriend FKA Twigs, shot back by declaring that he quit because of a ‘lack of rehearsal time.’

He buttressed his side of the story by leaking an email he sent Olivia – as well as video footage of her trying to persuade him not to leave the movie.

‘I feel like I’m not ready to give up on this yet, and I, too, am heartbroken and I want to figure this out,’ the director said in the video. 

‘You know, I think this might be a bit of a wake-up call for Miss Flo, and I want to know if you’re open to giving this a shot with me, with us,’ Olivia added. 

‘If she really commits, if she really puts her mind and heart into it at this point and if you guys can make peace – and I respect your point of view, I respect hers – but if you guys can do it, what do you think? Is there hope? Will you let me know?’ 

On the Colbert show this week, Olivia doubled down on her claim that she fired Shia, saying he forced her to choose between him and Florence.

‘We had to replace Shia. He is a fantastic actor, but it wasn’t gonna work. When he gave me the ultimatum of, you know, him or Florence, I chose Florence,’ she said.

According to Olivia’s version of events: ‘That was him feeling he was stepping away and me feeling like we were moving on without him.’

The original screenplay of Don’t Worry Darling was written by Dick Van Dyke’s grandsons Carey and Shane Van Dyke.

When Olivia assumed control of the project, she had it rewritten by Katie Silberman, one of the writers of her directorial debut Booksmart. 

Harry and Florence star in the new film as a couple living a Stepfordesque existence in the 1950s – only for her to discover her tranquil life has been concealing a dark secret.

The movie features a villainous character inspired by political pundit and psychologist Jordan Peterson, whom Olivia slated as a ‘pseudo-intellectual hero to the incel community’ while chatting with Maggie Gyllenhaal for Interview magazine.

Thoroughly eclipsed by its behind-the-scenes gossip, the movie has been rejected by the critics to the tune of a crushing 37% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. 

An insider close to the project remarked to Vulture: ‘Olivia is either a mad genius who figured out a way to make people more aware of the movie in a way that just drives up the box office or she doesn’t have any self-awareness that she is f***ing up her movie.’