Olivia Wilde dismisses Don't Worry Darling tension with Florence Pugh as 'baseless rumors and gossip'

Emlyn Travis
·3 min read
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Olivia Wilde dismisses Don't Worry Darling tension with Florence Pugh as 'baseless rumors and gossip'
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Olivia Wilde isn't exactly wild about the drama surrounding her and Florence Pugh. In response, the actress-director is dismissing speculation of tension between them.

Since production first began on Wilde's second film, Don't Worry Darling, rumors of their supposed rift have been flooding social media. They became a million times worse, however, following a leaked video message that Wilde sent to Shia LaBeouf, who was previously set to play Harry Styles' character in the film, in which she called Pugh, who stars in the film, "Miss Flo."

As the internet quickly drew lines in the sand, all eyes were on the pair at the Don't Worry Darling premiere at the Venice Film Festival on Monday, where the discomfort seemed to escalate when Pugh did not attend the movie's press conference with Wilde and her costars Styles, Chris Pine, and Gemma Chan. While Pugh did walk the red carpet with the cast, she sat the farthest away from Wilde during its screening — which sparked even more chatter online.

Now, Wilde is here to remind everyone that Don't Worry Darling is a film, not a reality television show.

"Florence's performance in this film is astounding," she told Vanity Fair after the festival. "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."

Olivia Wilde; Florence Pugh
Olivia Wilde; Florence Pugh

Stephane Cardinale - Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images; Ernesto Ruscio/Getty Images Olivia Wilde has dismissed reported 'Don’t Worry Darling' tension with Florence Pugh.

Wilde first attempted to quash the rumors about her and Pugh during the Venice press conference. "As for all the endless tabloid gossip and all the noise out there, I mean, the internet feeds itself," she said. "I don't feel the need to contribute. I think it's sufficiently well nourished."

In fact, speaking with Vanity Fair in London in July, Wilde said she only had positive feelings toward Pugh and her work in the film. "Florence did the job I hired her to do, and she did it exquisitely," the filmmaker said at the time. "She blew me away. Every day I was in awe of her, and we worked very well together."

She did, however, note that the pair kept their distance throughout shooting, but that it was because Pugh's portrayal of main character Alice was very taxing and required her to spend time apart from the rest of the cast and crew.

"She's going through a cataclysmic existential breakdown, while everyone else is at a dinner party like, 'La-di-da,' smoking cigarettes," Wilde explained. "My tendency is to be everyone's best friend and to socialize, and I think she often just needed the time and space to focus, so the way I supported her was to give her space and to be there if she needed anything. Florence was very focused on turning out that performance, which I can assure you took all of her energy."

Wilde also addressed the online theory that she and Pugh clashed because she was neglecting her directorial duties in favor of spending time with boyfriend Styles. "The idea that I had five seconds in the day to be distracted by anything is laughable," she said. "I was there before everyone. I was there after everyone. And it was a dream. It's not like this work was not enjoyable. It was just all-encompassing."

And the hypothesis that Pugh was secretly unhappy with her experience on the film because she wasn't posting about it on social media? Wilde shut that down immediately too.

"Florence is one of the most in-demand actresses in the universe," Wilde said. "She's on set on Dune. I gather that some people expect for her to be engaging more on social media. I didn't hire her to post. I hired her to act. She fulfilled every single expectation I had of her. That's all that matters to me."

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