Olivia Wilde Reacts to Florence Pugh ‘Don’t Worry Darling’ Drama

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The drama continues. As Florence PughHas remained relatively silent on social media about her experience filming Don’t Worry Darling amid feud rumors, director Olivia WildeShe opened up about their relationship.

“Florence is one of the most in-demand actresses in the universe. She’s on set on Dune,” Wilde, 38, told Vanity Fair In an interview published Thursday, September 8th. “I gather that some people expect for her to be engaging more on social media. I didn’t hire her to post. She was hired to act. She exceeded all of my expectations. That’s all that matters to me.”

The Little Women actress, 28, was cast as leading lady Alice in Wilde’s Don’t Worry Darling Film will be released theatrically later in the month.

“Florence’s performance in this film is astounding. It’s just baffling to me that the media would rather focus on baseless rumors gossip, thereby overshadowing her profound talent,” the New York native, who directed the psychological thriller, told the magazine about the alleged drama between the two women. “She deserves more than that. As does the movie, and everyone who worked so hard on it.”

After production on the film — which also stars Wilde’s boyfriend, Harry Styles, Chris Pine and Gemma Chan — wrapped, rumors started swirling that Pugh was not promoting the project on social media or at press events after she was upset that the former One Direction singer, 28, was paid significantly more.

“There has been a lot out there that I largely don’t pay attention to,” Wilde told Variety Last month. “But the absurdity of invented clickbait and subsequent reaction regarding a nonexistent pay disparity between our lead and supporting actors really upset me.”

She continued: “I’m a woman who has been in this business for over 20 years, and it’s something that I have fought for myself and others, especially being a director. There is absolutely no validity to those claims.”

Source: Us Weekly at the time that both Pugh and Wilde had “several disagreements personally and professionally,” which led to the Black Widow Actress decides not to attend press events. Don’t Worry Darling.

Pugh did not participate in the film’s Venice International Film Festival panel earlier this month, while Wilde ended up dodging questions about their supposed feud.

“Florence is a force,” the Booksmart director said during the Monday, September 5, press conference. “We are so grateful she’s able to make it tonight [for the red carpet] despite being in production on Dune.”

Pugh did indeed attend the premiere screening and red-carpet ceremony, but she was not there to support Wilde.

“I’m still taking it all in! Qwoaaar. What a moment! A massive congratulations to everyone standing on that carpet,” the Midsommar Red carpet photos of Wilde and the cast were captioned by star via Instagram on Wednesday, September 7th. “We premiered in Venice! This is a huge win. I’d never been to Venice Film Festival before. It was massive! The crowds! The cheers! The energy was incredible.”

She added at the time: “And to all the cast and crew as well who helped to make this movie, thank you for all of your hard work. We genuinely wouldn’t have been there without your talent and we appreciate it hugely.”