Before there was the legal mess surrounding It Ends With Us, there was Don’t Worry Darling — a film that became the talk of Hollywood for months in 2022, all because of a rumored feud between director Olivia Wilde and lead Florence Pugh. For her part, Olivia maintained nothing but positive praise for Florence in the press. Four years have now passed since the drama, and what does Liv have to say about it? She swears it’s all lies!
In a new profile published with The Cut on Wednesday, the 42-year-old filmmaker opened up about the alleged behind-the-scenes issues on the set of Don’t Worry Darling. We had heard a lot of different reasons for the rumored rift, including the allegation Florence was upset about Olivia’s relationship with Harry Styles, whom the House alum dated for nearly two years before breaking up in November 2022. Why would Florence care? Sources tried to claim Olivia was cheating on her longtime partner, Jason Sudeikis, and that it didn’t sit right with some in the cast. Not only that, multiple sources also claimed Miss Flo had something going on with Harry before Olivia began dating the pop star.
Related: Olivia Wilde CALLS OUT Harry Styles Relationship Haters!
If that wasn’t bad enough, other insiders alleged Florence became frustrated with Olivia’s supposed lack of professionalism, as it was reported the director would allegedly waste everyone’s time because she and Harry allegedly showed up late to work. It was also reported the OC guest star would allegedly “just disappear” with the Watermelon Sugar singer.
Things reportedly became so “tense” between Olivia and Florence they allegedly got into a “screaming match” in January 2021, the same month the relationship with Harry went public. Not to mention reports of the then-couple breaking the film’s COVID safety protocols to attend a wedding. A source claimed the fight between Florence and Olivia escalated to the point where Warner Bros then-chairman Toby Emmerich stepped in to act as “referee.” And it all torpedoed from there…
But according to Olivia, “none of this is true” as she told The Cut:
“I have never had a screaming match on my set. I was never not available on set. I wanted to be like, ‘None of this is true.'”
So why all the rumors to begin with? Why all the reports? Other than attending the Venice premiere, Florence didn’t do any press for the movie, which is unheard of in Hollywood! She’s also refused to talk about the Don’t Worry Darling mess! She straight up won’t even deny anything! There were reports of Florence avoiding her at all costs in public! There was also that whole Olivia Olivia/Shia LaBeouf phone call thing when Florence didn’t want to work with the alleged abuser.
Olivia now says she hates how she didn’t get to address all the chatter surrounding the film and her life back then. She claimed the studio and others told her to stay quiet:
“I was told, ‘Don’t say a f**king word. Just go out there and smile.’ I resent that, but it taught me it’s not the way I want to handle things.”
Ultimately, the situation took a toll on Olivia. She shared that Hollywood “has robbed me of my naïveté for sure,” adding:
“I deeply hate the feeling of being misunderstood, too.”
And looking back, Olivia recalled a lesson she learned from Jennifer Garner from when they worked on the indie film Butter in 2011 about the industry:
“She said it’s like you get cast in a soap opera by the public. And they assign you an obvious archetype: the damsel in distress, the good girl, the pretty girl.”
And while Olivia felt she had been deemed “an object of desire” early on in her career, she now feels things have changed:
“I became the full-on villain. Like Cruella.”
Well, for what it’s worth, we never saw Olivia as a “full-on villain” even as all those reports came in. Still, Olivia is likely hoping to ditch whatever villain perception some people might have of her with the release of her upcoming film, The Invite, which stars her, Seth Rogen, Penelope Cruz, and Edward Norton. There just better not be any news of behind-the-scenes drama on that set…
What are your thoughts, Perezcious readers? Do you believe Olivia? Sound OFF in the comments (below)!
[Image via MEGA/WENN]
