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Olivia Wilde has spoken out amid the sea of drama surrounding her new film Don’t Worry Darling. In an interview with Vanity Fair, the filmmaker addressed a slew of rumors and issues, including whether she left her long-time partner and former fiancé, Jason Sudeikis, for the movie’s star Harry Styles.
“The complete horseshit idea that I left Jason for Harry is completely inaccurate,” she told Vanity Fair. “Our relationship was over long before I met Harry. Like any relationship that ends, it doesn’t end overnight. Unfortunately, Jason and I had a very bumpy road, and we officially dissolved the relationship towards the beginning of the pandemic. We were raising two kids during lockdown, so we co-parented through that time. Once it became clear that cohabitating was no longer beneficial for the children, it became the responsible thing to not, because we could be better parents as friends who live in different houses.”
She added, “I don’t understand the need to create false narratives and drama around this kind of stuff. It’s like, haven’t the kids been through enough?”
Elsewhere, Wilde spoke about her decision to fire Shia LaBeouf from Don’t Worry Darling, who Styles eventually replaced in the film. LaBeouf recently countered Wilde’s assertion that she decided to remove him from the project, claiming instead (and bringing the receipts) that he voluntarily left the role due to scheduling conflicts. But now, Wilde has doubled down on her side of the story. According to Vanity Fair, Pugh told Wilde she was uncomfortable with LaBeouf’s behavior and Wilde fired him herself.
“My responsibility was towards her,” Wilde said of Pugh. “I’m like a mother wolf. Making the call was tricky, but in a way, he understood. I don’t think it would’ve been a process he enjoyed. He comes at his work with an intensity that can be combative. It wasn’t the ethos that I demand in my productions. I want him to get well and to evolve because I think it’s a great loss to the film industry when someone that talented is unable to work.”
She added in response to LaBeouf’s recent claims, which included a leaked video of Wilde seemingly asking the actor to stay on the film, “This issue is so much more nuanced than can be explained in private texts released out of context. All I’ll say is he was replaced, and there was no going forward with him. I wish him the best in his recovery.”
Wilde also confirmed that Styles was her primary choice to replace the actor. “My thing with Harry was that I knew he was fearless,” she noted. “I’d rather work with a non-actor who’s fearless than a trained actor who is full of hang-ups and baggage and judgment.” The director also addressed a rumor that tensions arose on set when she began to favor Styles in a way that “neglected or otherwise alienated Pugh.”
“It is very rare that people assume the best from women in power,” Wilde said. “I think they don’t often give us the benefit of the doubt. Florence did the job I hired her to do, and she did it exquisitely. She blew me away. Every day I was in awe of her, and we worked very well together. It is ironic that now, with my second film — which is again about the incredible power of women, what we’re capable of when we unite, and how easy it is to strip a woman of power by using other women to judge and shame them — we’re talking about this.”
In a later interview for the feature, after the recent drama surrounding the film’s cast at the Venice International Film Festival, Wilde added, “Florence’s performance in this film is astounding. It’s just baffling to me that the media would rather focus on baseless rumors and gossip, thereby overshadowing her profound talent. She deserves more than that. As does the movie, and everyone who worked so hard on it.”
The drama has extended into the director’s personal life, as well. During CinemaCon earlier this year, Sudeikis served Wilde with custody papers while she was onstage presenting Don’t Worry Darling.
“So many people were shocked on my behalf,” she said of the incident. “Unfortunately, I wasn’t that shocked. There’s a reason that I didn’t stay in that relationship. Unfortunately, that was consistent with my experience of the relationship. So I was probably the least shocked. But I was also deeply saddened by it—and disturbed by it in lots of ways…. I know it took an extraordinary amount of energy [for the server] to get in that room. It took a tremendous amount of forethought. And I will tell you, there are so many other ways to do that. I am not someone who lives in hiding. If that experience hadn’t been public, I never would have spoken of it, because I never would want my kids to know that happened. Unfortunately, they will know that happened.”
Despite the ups and downs and relentless rumormill, Wilde affirmed that her relationship with Styles has been largely positive. In the interview, she called his fans “a beautiful and loving group of people,” but refused to comment too much on the actual relationship. “I think once you crack open the window, you can’t then be mad when mosquitoes come in,” she said. “It’s like, ‘You opened the window.’”
As for what happened in Venice? Wilde said being at the festival with her sophomore film was “it was a fantasy coming true.” She added, “This film family went through a lot together, and it was extremely meaningful to celebrate together that night.”
Earlier this week, two insiders told Rolling Stone that Pugh will not attend the only other scheduled film premiere in New York, citing scheduling conflicts.
“From what I understand, there is friction, but I don’t know why,” one source who was on the Don’t Worry Darling set told Rolling Stone. “It’s pretty clear she’s choosing not to be a part of the PR. It’s clearly not beneficial to Olivia to not have her be a part of the PR. It has to be a Florence decision.”
