Last week, Page Six had an interesting story about why Florence Pugh doesn’t seem to be promoting or hyping Don’t Worry Darling on her social media. Page Six’s sources claimed that Pugh is pointedly not promoting the film because she didn’t care for the way DWD’s director Olivia Wilde cheated on her then-partner Jason Sudeikis with DWD actor Harry Styles. While it’s possible that Pugh does feel that way, my theory was that Pugh and Wilde perhaps didn’t get along in general, and Pugh thought Wilde’s affair with Harry Styles was pretty unprofessional. Even Sudeikis disputed Wilde’s timeline and narrative of their split, and reportedly, Wilde and Styles really did begin their relationship during DWD’s filming. Well, Wilde is still trying to damage control on all of this before the film heads to the Venice Film Festival. From Page Six:
Olivia Wilde is focused on the world premiere of “Don’t Worry Darling” amid rumors of tension on the set of the movie, which she directed. Multiple sources previously told Page Six that Florence Pugh — who stars in the hotly anticipated psychological drama — was unhappy after Wilde fell for the other lead, Harry Styles, during filming. But other sources have now said that Wilde and Styles did not flaunt their flourishing romance and most people on set did not know they were an item.
“Olivia was super professional — both she and Harry were. We were all surprised to hear that they were an item and didn’t even realize they were a couple until the news was out publicly,” said one set insider.
Wilde and Styles made their public debut at the wedding of Styles’ agent Jeffrey Azoff in January 2021 and are still going strong. Another source in the know added: “We were filming the movie at the height of COVID. Everyone had a job to do and we were focused on that. I certainly didn’t see Harry and Olivia all over each other!”
Despite insiders saying that Wilde’s ex, Jason Sudekis, visited the “Darling” set, the source said they did not see him, adding: “The set was strictly closed to visitors since we were at the height of Covid lockdown.”
Wilde is now looking forward to reuniting with the cast of “Don’t Worry Darling” at the Venice Film Festival, which begins Aug. 31 in Italy and continues through September 10. She will be one of the only women directors at the fest, according to sources. Wilde will join Styles, Pugh and their cast mates Gemma Chan and Chris Pine at the world premiere in September, and the film is to be released Sept. 23 in the US.
Again, the hookup rumors started up during DWD’s production, and the confirmation of Jason and Olivia’s split happened DURING the production too. It absolutely felt like Olivia quickly wanted it out there, in the fall of 2020, that she and Jason were done, after which she and Harry “began” their relationship (also during the production). Something I’ve been thinking about a lot re: Florence Pugh is that IF Pugh has some angst about DWD, I wonder if it’s more like “Olivia behaved unprofessionally on set and blatantly played favorites with her lover.” That makes much more sense to me as opposed to Pugh being angry on Sudeikis’s behalf. Anyway, DWD’s promotion is probably going to be shambolic. Here’s hoping, honestly. It’s been a while since we’ve had some promo shambles.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, promotional photos courtesy of ‘Don’t Worry Darling’.
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- LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, USA – NOVEMBER 06: Actress Olivia Wilde wearing a Gucci dress arrives at the 10th Annual LACMA Art + Film Gala 2021 held at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art on November 6, 2021 in Los Angeles, California, United States.,Image: 642004404, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Olivia Wilde, Credit line: Xavier Collin / Image Press Agency / Avalon
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- LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, USA – NOVEMBER 06: Actress Olivia Wilde wearing a Gucci dress arrives at the 10th Annual LACMA Art + Film Gala 2021 held at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art on November 6, 2021 in Los Angeles, California, United States.,Image: 642004435, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Olivia Wilde, Credit line: Xavier Collin / Image Press Agency / Avalon
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- Florence Pugh on the red carpet for the EE British Academy Awards 2022 at Royal Albert Hall in Kensington, London, United Kingdom.,Image: 669436413, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: World Rights, Model Release: no, Credit line: Cat Morley / Avalon
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- Florence Pugh arrives for the 75th EE British Academy Film Awards at the Royal Albert Hall, London, UK,Image: 669449934, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: James Shaw / Avalon
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- Florence Pugh attends attends the Tiffany & Co. “Vision & Virtuosity” Brand Exhibition Opening Gala at Saatchi Gallery on June 09, 2022 in London,Image: 698527558, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Anamaria Wiggins / Avalon
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- Los Angeles, CA – Olivia Wilde at the tenth annual Art+Film Gala presented by Gucci at the LACMA Art Gallery in Los Angeles. Pictured: Olivia Wilde BACKGRID USA 7 NOVEMBER 2021 BYLINE MUST READ: PeBu / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
Okay, I’m a fan of them both (Harry and Olivia) and inclined to think better of Olivia than Jason in terms of their break-up. I want this movie to be good.
This movie has been done quite a bit. It’s almost always a good watch.
I like all people involved. I think they‘re all emotionally mature enough to get through this with a working parenting relationship in place. I hope the movie does well.
Damage control through “anonymous sources”. So there is a problem here. How interesting. 🤔
I kind of wish now I was interested in this movie, but at least I can revel in some good old fashioned gossip messiness.
ooooo yeah, if “source” needs to go to the outlets to say how professional Olivia was and how they didn’t flaunt their relationship, we can all just assume the opposite. screaming hey everyone there’s nothing to see here lol. bad move but yeah this gonna get messy.
It already seems to be since these “sources” are suddenly coming out of the woodwork…..
I find this counter-narrative of “we were totally professional at all times” so pointless. Like, you were at work and behaved professionally, do you really think you deserve a medal for that?
@Izzy, IKR? Not only do you not get a cookie for behaving professionally, Olivia, you DIDN’T behave professionally, lol!
She fell in love and so did he. When people are having sex in a professional environment, others ALWAYS know or suspect. They actually announced the relationship during work. People are all, “we had no idea until they announced because they were discreet pros,”. BS: somebody ALWAYS knows even if you aren’t privileged to the gossip. How thick.
I don’t fault her for falling in love with Harry. I fault her for trying to gaslight us with the protestations. OWN YOUR POOP!!!
Thank you @ Christina and @ Izzy!!
Every company I have worked for had some shenanigans going on. We all knew who was getting what from whom and how often. They might have thought that they were slick but they weren’t. Everyone has tales…….
This movie is going to be this year’s Deep Water (was that the name of it?) where the content of the film has been completely overshadowed by the on-set hook ups.
Also, like, if Olivia cheated on her boyfriend, it isn’t great, but it also isn’t the end of the world. Ish happens. But her and her PR people should stop trying to change the timeline, *that’s* annoying. It didn’t work for John Mulaney and it isn’t working here.
Regarding your first paragraph, one of the better theories I’ve heard about this situation is that Florence is upset the Olivia and Harry’s relationship has completely overshadowed her starring role in the movie. To me that’s way more plausible than Florence being upset on Jason’s behalf or, the weirdest theory, that Florence and the cinematographer had to direct the movie because Olivia was too busy having sex with Harry all the time. I do think something is going on because it’s weird that Florence isn’t promoting the movie on social media, but usually the most boring answer is the correct one.
I’m on board with FP feeling it was unprofessional and Wilde was playing favorites as well. Especially when FP and HS are filming scenes together under OW direction. It sounds frustrating. Just from those early production pics shows Wilde and styles were not hiding their affection on set. To say it was not flaunted with those pics out there is no small amount of damage control.
I know I am always in minority when it comes to this, but I really find these kinds of relationships really unprofessional. I know they were grown ups, but cmon, was it so hard to wait until the movie was done?
Doesn’t matter how professional they were, if they are sleeping together, it shows. And yes, I do find it unprofessional even if the genders were reversed, I equally dislike when a male director dates the actress during filming.
I definitely agree that it’s a case of Pugh feeling Wilde & Styles’ affair was pretty unprofessional and was annoyed at her playing favorites.
Insider tea is that Wilde was so in it with Styles that she was neglecting part of her director duties and Pugh had to step in to cover some of it on set to keep things going. That is why she’s especially annoyed.
And I don’t buy for a minute that no one on that set new about Wilde & Styles’s relationship. Puleeeeese
That is an absolutely laughable assertion. No one takes over for a director. The fact that this is out there makes me even less likely to believe a word FP says.
Lolz. She had to take over directing. Wow we would never hear this about a male director.
Completely agree, WiththeAmerican. This is basically fanfiction that Harry Styles fans sent to DeuxMoi because they hate that he has a girlfriend, and it’s taken on a life of its own because people love to believe misogynistic gossip about women. I don’t know anything about Olivia Wilde personally (i.e., whether she’s nice or a jerk, and I don’t really care), but she’s got a strong professional track record and has directed before. Some random cast member is not going to take over for a director — that’s what ADs and cinematographers are for. You would *never* see this about a male director — even her former partner who has been doing pretty much the same thing on Ted Lasso with a much younger (and less powerful) woman.
Still, I don’t understand the strategy behind addressing these rumors, even through “a source.” Just ignore it and let it die out and promote the film.
@snidey, agree that they shouldn’t have addressed it, but of course that could have been a styles fan perpetuating the rumor since it was a “set insider.” What even does that mean? An extra for one day?
the idea that these people think actors are going to sit in video village w / the other stars, producers, scripty, etc giving out instructions to other actors, and that those actors would take instructions from them, is a hoot. Olivia is a producer on this film in addition to director.
NO ONE would step on the toes of the producer/director. No one. If she weren’t doing her job, the set would stop work before someone else would step in. The AD would impart her instructions, etc as they do normally to BG and to order crew and actors on next moves, that is normal. “Turning around,” etc.
much of the directors job is done before stepping foot on the set. And then they watch and decide when they’ve got what they need. These styles fans think FP was ordering the whole set around, deciding when they had the shots they needed? Lolz. I can’t breathe.
My god the delusions.
“No one takes over for a director.”
*cough * tombstone *cough*
(I’m not saying that’s what happened here, just that it does happen)
@Owlsyn you understand the PRODUCER fired the first director and replaced them on Tombstone, right? As in, the first director was no longer on set.
Olivia Wilde is a PRODUCER on the film in question. She didn’t fire herself, nor did she let someone take over for her. – we would have heard about that happening if she were so incompetent.
Yes, Russell claimed he “ghost directed” Tombstone – but not everyone backed that up. He did work with producers on editing the script the previous director who was fired has written, and he was a known big star at the time, which changes some of the dynamics (FP is not BO draw yet and she is a woman, the end to Hollywood producers letting her pare down a script). At any rate, they brought in a second person who was credited with directing the film. That is how these things are done.
But that situation has nothing to do with Styles stans above claiming Olivia wasn’t working as director and so FP had to “ take over.”
In this situation, Olivia is a producer of this movie. She did not fire herself. She didn’t drop the ball and need to be rescued from her own project. She finished the project.
At any rate if anyone had needed to “take over” for her, it would have been someone she approved of and certainly not someone with no directorial experience or years of box office draw under their belt. FH is very talented, but she wasn’t ghost directing for OW.
Well, the fact that Olivia would have effectively had to fire herself if she wasn’t doing the directing job isn’t that helpful- “See, I didn’t fire myself! That’s how you know there wasn’t an issue!”
There’s no way Florence had to direct the film or anyone besides Olivia had to direct the film but it’s possible Olivia didn’t coordinate between the various functions in the way a director normally would and left artistic decisions to others more than a director normally would because she was distracted and just took a high level “I trust you guys, go ahead and do your thing” kind of way. Which works for like, the caterers but not the actors and can lead to a lack on continuity or having to redo things.
Yes, I understand that. I was just giving an example. There are others I could give instead but it was honestly just me saying that it occasionally happens where someone steps in for a director for parts of the film or part of the director’s duties. It’s not something that is unheard of.
Again, I didn’t say that is what happened here, just that it happens in general.
I don’t like how the press is trying to make the promo of this movie about a rivalry between two women. I agree more with the theory that they they get along fine but are not besties.
Yes, it seems like they are really stretching to make a feud out of nothing!
The original rumors started, not because Florence said something bad…but because people thought she didn’t post enough? So they started rushing to assumptions, and now the “brainstorming” about what might have happened is spinning out of control.
I really think people are trying to make drama where there is none, because drama can be fun for the masses.
I’m sick of heating about this film.
Also Pugh’s partner Zach Braff is friends with Sudeikis and directed episodes of Ted Lasso.
Right? I find it completely believable that Florence thinks Olivia is a jerk and a cheater. I’d like to point out that you can dislike someone for being unprofessional and also a bad person in general. There are definitely people I think are shitty in the workplace that I have seen treat the people in their personal life shittily.
This is what Olivia and Harry put out via People Magazine in January of 2021-
As they spent time together on-and off-set, their friendship “quickly turned romantic,” said an insider. “Their chemistry was very obvious.”
“Everyone saw it coming. During breaks, he’s hasn’t been able to stay away and visited her trailer,” the source added.
That is what they said as this was happening and that would have been in relation to the filming they did that fall, the first pap photos of them together are from 1 January 2021. So this is not about what they did on set after everyone knew. This directly contradicts the Page Six story they just put out. People Magazine is generally understood to have information directly from the people they cover. Jason and Olivia’s break up story was placed there originally, there was no press release, IG post or official confirmation.
@ Cava 24
Page Six is also a celebrity mouthpiece The Kardashians, Brad Pitt, Johnny deep and others PR teams have used Page Six to put out stories for them.
Totally agreed, I was just pointing out that People tends to have a higher standard and is regarded as a news source rather than a gossip source.
Yeah, I just think of it in the context of boring, normal people work. Especial of Florence’s boyfriend is directing Olivia’s ex and they are buddies. People TALK.
They have to try to control perception, and men do this on sets all the time. I love Olivia, but she should just shut up and move on. The more she extra pains the, the less she owns it. I like Olivia Wilde, but this is a problem in all professions, and she and Harry should have waited, or they should OWN what happened.
can’t fault FP for being annoyed at the unprofessionalism if that’s her issue. it IS highly unprofessional and I’d be annoyed too.
Thank you! Hello? Olivia’s pushback doesn’t make what she and Harry did better. It just makes me feel like she is attempting to convince me that I didn’t read what I read or see what I saw.
They are in love. It happened. It was unprofessional, and that is a pain for the people who work with them. It’s uncomfortable.
The gaslighting is making me NOT want to see this, and I like Olivia, Harry, and Florence!! I even like Zach Braff (I know, I know…)!
Why respond to the Page Six story if it wasn’t true? Florence has said nothing since it came out. People were going to talk regardless. The director and the star are dating. Defending their actions, trying to change timelines, and pretend what people on the outside saw & heard is a recipe for disaster. Just push forward with the promotion. By providing this new perspective of life on set, Olivia has now open herself to people providing receipts of what was reported back then. This has nothing to do with Florence and everything to do with Olivia & Harry’s decision to start a relationship while they were working. It was unprofessional.m, Olivia. Own it.
Olivia played herself. She thought Jason was gonna fall in line like her ex husband did when she left him. The only thing she had to do was not got to the press, keep her mouth shut and speak with Harry about doing the same.
Now, it is affecting promotion for her film and is only gonna add fuel to the fire when she directs the Marvel film.
Florence hasn’t whined to the press, the Page Six article from last week was built on social media posts. Florence hasn’t said a word.
File an official complaint about unprofessional behavior where? It’s pretty clear there’s no HR team for that film. Should she file it with the producers? Olivia and her bestie, the screenwriter, are two of the producers. You just highlighted one of the reasons why the producer/director of the film should not get involved with one of the actors.
I saw a trailer for this movie and it looks really good. I want to see it! I didn’t realize it was the one all the drama is about until later.
It doesn’t make it any better but how many male directors have started relationships on set? Why is this one getting the most gossip attention?
I think it’s unprofessional regardless, but it’s being blown out of proportion, it feels like.
Well Harry Styles is a massive pop star with a rabid female fan base and Olivia Wild is having a messy breakup (again) Jason Sudekis who is also famous. It reminds me of Bradd Pitt, Angelina Jolie and Jennifer Aniston affair. Granted with lessor stars
Well, it reminds me more of the Kristen Stewart, Rupert Sanders, and Robert Pattinson brouhaha. That was a huge mess as well.
One of the reasons it gets so much attention is that Olivia and Harry leaked stories about their relationship to People and other outlets for the first 18 months of the relationship. I don’t know if the new regime at WB told them to ease off or they just decided that was better for them personally but it has slowed a bit recently.
I do not dislike any of the people involved here but Olivia and Harry having an on set romance when she is in a power position over him is a bad idea. I know it happens all the time but it is a bad idea all the time too. Also I know that as a female director there will be people waiting to jump all over her if the movie is not perfect so I hope it is at least good or compelling. I am not sold at all on Harry Styles as an actor but Florence Pugh is probably good enough to hold him up. I will await the reviews to see what all this messiness has wrought
I’m not siding with one party over the other, but I followed Florence Pugh on Insta awhile back because I like to watch her cooking stories (she’s a very intuitive home cook!). One thing I’ve noticed is that she doesn’t hesitate to pushback against narratives about her in the press. This makes me believe that there IS some sort of discord between her and Olivia Wilde, otherwise she would have posted saying everything’s fine. The reasons why are anyone’s guess, but I think they must be significant for Florence to be blanking on promotion for Don’t Worry Darling like this. I don’t think she’d care about Olivia Wilde and Harry Styles hooking up on set/while Olivia was engaged to Jason Sudeikis (or at least not to the extent that it would affect her promo obligations). It has to be something more significant.
As a side note, the movie looks very good! Cannot wait to see it.
I think Florence will promote the film but she has two films out this fall and she has to balance that as well. She’l do press etc. Olivia posts a lot and does things in a very “girl squad” way (look at her posts and stories for other people involved in the film and her last film, her stories are googleable) that is different from how a lot of other people do things.
Team no one here.
Was never a fan of Olivia’s (especially with that Italian princess bs) but I do think there’s a smear campaign going on here that’s likely coming from team Jason. Her getting served on stage was really awful and I can’t believe he didn’t know about it.
I find Florence quite smug and her relationship with Braff is gross and I do think they are firmly team Jason. Florence has complimented Harry on his professionalism after taking on the role after Shia, so I don’t believe he and Olivia were all over each other on set. I think this is a lot of different people having beef with each other for various reasons.
Afterwards, this movie doesn’t interest me. It seems like a variation of a WandaVision we’re in some alternate reality dream city. Yawn.
I’ve had to work with people who are having an affair, and yes, it does create a shambolic mess. It’s not something you can really hide, people pick up on it. If Wilde did play favorites, how awful for Pugh.
Can’t wait to watch this movie 🙂
To all those people saying how unprofessional it is that OW and HS we’re doing the horizontal tango, how about that FP is probably contractually obligated to be doing socials for this movie and is completely blanking. I have loved FP since her breaking out in midsommar and doing an excellent job in little women but either this is all part of a weird media/pr blitz or she’s acting like a child here. Other people being unprofessional is no excuse for you not to do your work.
Like Florence, the male lead hasn’t liked any of the director’s posts or put the trailer on his main, so there probably aren’t any contractual obligations around their posts. There’s variation across the cast on what they are doing, the second male lead doesn’t even use IG. I am sure Florence will participate in the promotion of the film, I would expect New Line’s promotional plans include more than people posting on their IG.
Also, the IG page for the film is totally anemic and Olivia Wilde hasn’t “liked” any of the posts there, I don’t think there is a big, contractual social media rollout for the film as yet. They may be waiting until closer to the release date.
I’d like to see the film. Messy sets won’t be remembered if it’s a great movie. I hope it is a great movie.
There were no rumours during the shoot. None. I write for a film site and the first time Wilde & Styles were linked was when they stepped out at a friend’s wedding party after the shoot was over.
I feel like this Florence Pugh vs Olvia Wilde thing comes directly from Styles fans who are jealous of Wilde. A mountain of gossip made out of nothing.
Your timeline is incorrect- The wedding was mid-filming, the photos of Harry and Olivia came out the first week of January. You can look at Olivia Wilde’s own IG to see that they wrapped on 13 February. They planted stories about their relationship all over the gossip rags during that 6 week period and have continued to do so, off and on.
This has seemed like the world’s worst PR stunt from the beginning. Olivia is not a smart woman by allowing herself to seem like a desperate teen age “hanger on” to Harry, a witch for “dumping” her ex and children in such a way and a poor director. Harry is Teflon as he never seemed to be happy after that first PAP walk on private property.
I do think her 6? 8? pap walks with Harry’s merch were a bit much. I don’t think their age difference matters. If she was unhappy with Jason it is totally understandable she would leave and it is the healthy thing to do, Jason has acknowledged they had issues, people seem not to notice that he said that though. I do think some of the communication around the breakup and her new relationship was gross. I don’t think Harry is unhappy, I think people have this idea that he is supposed to radiate happiness at all times like a puppy and he’s not a puppy.
I personally think FP might feel in discord due to the lack of professionalism on OW’s part. I work in film. Olivia was in a position of power over both HS and FP who also have scenes together in the film. The affair definitely took place during filming. It’s inconsiderate on OW’s part of cast and crew to get involved with someone she’s hired as cast especially making it worse, while she’s in a relationship with someone else. It can make the entire set uncomfortable and if there is an affair most certainly bring bad press which affects everyone who has put hard work into the film. What’s the saying? Don’t poop where you eat? The professional thing to have done would be professional enough to keep work work and wait until the filming has concluded to pursue relationships and personal desires. That’s the part I find most unprofessional is that she couldn’t put it aside to complete her work she committed to first and that she’s also had many others commit to. When I work, especially on shoots, I never ever engage in relationships outside of work with cast or crew. It’s always unprofessional in my opinion and can be taking advantage of position. And usually is seen that way by the others working on the set. People definitely talk about it too and you likely won’t be hired on the set again.