Olivia Wilde finally speaks out about ‘screaming match’ with Florence Pugh as she addresses reports of toxicity on set of Don’t Worry Darling

Vicious rumors of a rift between Olivia Wilde and Florence Pugh overshadowed the release of Don’t Worry Darling. 

But Wilde is now speaking up about the chatter that infiltrated the rollout of the thriller. 

At the time, Wilde and Pugh’s feud was reported to have begun as a result of the filmmaker’s relationship with Harry Styles – with Pugh allegedly upset her director was hooking up with the singer when she was still engaged to Jason Sudeikis. 

Wilde specifically denied a claim she and Florence got into a ‘screaming match’ on the set of the film, a movie about women who were unknowingly made to become 1950s housewives at the behest of their boyfriends. 

‘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,” she told the publication. 

The relationship – which Wilde called ‘loving and wonderful and joyful’ – lasted for nearly two years. 

Yet the rumors contaminated not just the rollout of the film, but also followed Wilde and Styles around throughout their relationship. 

Wilde, who directed the movie, claimed she was advised against speaking up about the speculation by the studio and other parties – a request she acquiesced to but now regrets. 

‘I was told, ‘Don’t say a f**king word. Just go out there and smile,’ Wilde, shaking her head, told The Cut. ‘I resent that, but it taught me it’s not the way I want to handle things.’

The Daily Mail has contacted a representative for Pugh for comment but has not yet heard back.

At the time, a report in Page Six claimed Pugh took issue with Wilde for supposedly taking up with Harry while still engaged to Sudeikis.

The apparent feud intensified when Wilde referred to Pugh as ‘Miss Flo’ and said she needed a ‘wake-up call’ during the rehearsal period of the movie, in a video to actor Shia LaBeouf that was leaked.

At the time, Vulture reported that the director and her star got into a ‘screaming match’ with one another while filming the movie, as the director would often disappear with Styles. 

‘Olivia and Harry would just disappear,’ an insider claimed to the outlet.

According to an unnamed insider on the movie, Pugh and Wilde came to blows over Wilde’s ‘frequent, unexplained absences,’ on set which resulted in a ‘screaming match’ between the two women.

Wilde did praise Pugh when asked about the feud during a press conference for the film at the Venice Film Festival, which was not attended by Pugh due to previous filming obligations. 

‘Can you just clear the air and address whether there has been a falling out there and if so why, because it’s something that people are discussing?’ the reporter asked.

Wilde responded: ‘Florence is a force and we are so grateful that she is able to make it tonight despite being in production on Dune.’

‘I know as a director how disruptive it is to lose an actor even for a day so I’m very grateful to her and Denis Villeneuve for helping us – we’re really thrilled we’ll get to celebrate her work tonight.’ 

She continued: ‘I can’t say enough how honoured I am to have her as our lead. She’s amazing in the film and as for all the endless tabloid gossip and all the noise out there, I mean, the internet feeds itself. I don’t feel the need to contribute, I think it’s sufficiently well nourished.’

In addition, a total of 40 individuals who worked on the movie, including producer Miri Yoon, came forward to release a joint statement obtained by the Daily Mail after the movie came out, in an attempt to ‘correct’ the ‘absurd’ and ‘completely false’ claims that were made about the set.

‘As a crew, we’ve avoided addressing the absurd gossip surrounding the movie we’re so proud of, but feel the need to correct the anonymous ‘sources’ quoted in a recent article,’ the statement began.

‘Any allegations about unprofessional behavior on the set are completely false. Olivia is an incredible leader and director who was present with and involved in every aspect of production.

‘She ran this set with class and respect for everyone involved. There was never a screaming match between our director and anyone, let alone a member of our cast.’

Wilde and Styles have since split, and the separation was thought to be down to the pressures of his global touring and Wilde’s focus on her children in Los Angeles.

She has two children with Ted Lasso star Sudeikis, son Otis Alexander, 12, and daughter, Daisy Josephine, 9.

Harry’s new song Paint By Numbers is considered to be a break-up song about Olivia.

The lyrics go ‘You’re the luckiest, oh, the irony/ Holding the weight of the American children whose hearts you break/ Was it a tragedy when you told her/ ‘I’m not even thirty-three?’