Florence Pugh confesses that she & Zach Braff broke up earlier this year

Florence Pugh dated Zach Braff for years. They started up when she was 21-22 years old and he was in his 40s. The age difference bugged a lot of people, and the comments from people bugged Florence. She spent several years complaining about “reading mean comments about her relationship.” I never understood that – if she was confident in her relationship and she was happy with Braff, what would other people’s opinions matter? Just f–k your old man and enjoy yourself. Obviously, there were cracks in their relationship and she wasn’t so eager to discuss all of that. Several months ago, she went on vacation with Will Poulter and some friends and Braff was nowhere to be found. As it turns out, Florence and Zach have been done for a while. She spoke about their split in her Harper’s Bazaar cover story (she’s promoting Don’t Worry Darling). Some highlights from Bazaar:

Her career throughline: “I guess all of my movies have that element of women being forced into a corner, forced into an opinion, forced into a way of life. And then finally, something cracks.”

On the ‘Don’t Worry Darling’ trailer drop: “When it’s reduced to your sex scenes, or to watch the most famous man in the world go down on someone, it’s not why we do it. It’s not why I’m in this industry. Obviously, the nature of hiring the most famous pop star in the world, you’re going to have conversations like that. That’s just not what I’m going to be discussing because [this movie is] bigger and better than that. And the people who made it are bigger and better than that.”

Spending the pandemic lockdown in LA, she was itching to travel: “Part of the reason we all do this is because we run away with the circus. I think that one of the pulls for me is that I get to see places, see people, befriend people, fall in love with people, and then move on and do it again.”

The age gap between Pugh & Braff: When Pugh and actor-director Zach Braff began dating in 2019, much was made of their 21-year age gap. It was an experience that Pugh found cruel and invasive. “Whenever I feel like that line has been crossed in my life, whether it’s paparazzi taking private moments, or moments that aren’t even real, or gossip channels that encourage members of the public to share private moments of famous people walking down the street, I think it’s incredibly wrong. I don’t think that people, just because they have this job, that every aspect of their life should be watched and written about. We haven’t signed up for a reality TV show.”

They broke up: Pugh and Braff quietly ended their relationship earlier this year. “We’ve been trying to do this separation without the world knowing, because it’s been a relationship that everybody has an opinion on. We just felt something like this would really do us the benefit of not having millions of people telling us how happy they are that we’re not together. So we’ve done that. I automatically get a lumpy throat when I talk about it.”

[From Harper’s Bazaar]

This is a really strange breakup announcement, right? It’s basically: we didn’t want anyone to know that we broke up because we knew people would be really happy about it? And even post-split, she’s still so upset about (pretty f–king mild) criticism of her relationship. It’s almost as if it never occurred to her that she could simply own her sh-t and shrug off people’s opinions, turn off her IG comments and not search her name on Twitter. I’m lowkey dying to know why they broke up too. I suspect that either Florence got too old for Braff OR she was just way too focused on what other people were saying about her.

Also: I’m more convinced than ever that there’s some drama between Florence and Olivia Wilde. Pugh didn’t even say Olivia’s name (or Harry Styles’ name) in the interview and there are no quotes from Olivia or Harry.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, cover courtesy of Bazaar.

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70 Responses to “Florence Pugh confesses that she & Zach Braff broke up earlier this year”

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  1. TwinFalls says:

    That’s super weird her referring to HS as the most famous pop star in the world without ever saying his name. She sounds disapproving of his being in the role.

    • Maddy says:

      Tbf, his hiring was a bit stunt-casty. Florence is trying to establish herself as a serious actress and here they go, pairing her up with someone who was likely cast for his fame & fanbase first and actual ability second.

      Also, with Shia as her co-star, she was still the biggest name on the bill, now she isn’t. And since Harry is dating Olivia, the director, much of the press around the movie is going to be focused on them, whether they want to or not.
      Florence *and the movie* are bound to have to take a backseat to HarLivia? Orry?

      • Cava 24 says:

        I think it would feel a lot less stunt-casty if Harry and Olivia hadn’t gotten together during filming and done the big public pap walk at his manager’s wedding and then fed stories to the tabloids and People for the next 18 months. This resulted in the trades writing about the “Olivia Wilde film with Harry Styles” (which is what Olivia wanted) when the Venice premiere was announced but after which (because people noticed Florence got erased from a lot of those stories) Olivia started posting about Florence on her IG so people would see it as a “nothing to see here, Olivia is totally supporting Florence” thing. Which resulted in people thinking Florence was somehow in the wrong. Olivia has known what she was doing every step of the way and knew that she could blur all the other activity with a couple of social media posts.

    • tealily says:

      To be honest, I had to google because I forgot who was in this movie. “Most famous pop star in the world” obviously isn’t enough of a descriptor for me. (Lady Gaga?)

    • Eloise says:

      She has been quoted saying she won’t promote the movie bc she doesn’t appreciate how Wilde and Styles hooked up during filming

      • Silver Charm says:

        Where is this quote?

      • Cava 24 says:

        Florence has not been quoted as saying that, at all. People speculated that she was not engaging with Olivia’s social media posts because she was annoyed with Olivia (Harry has not engaged with them either) but she has not made any sort of statement about that.

      • Zapp Brannigan says:

        Well that’s foolish, because all Hollywood will care about is that she has a reputation for not fulfilling her contract, the powers that be won’t give a toss about the director dating an actor on set.

      • Eloise says:

        There is a whole breakdown on buzzfeed

      • Cava 24 says:

        Florence is not quoted in the Buzzfeed article saying she won’t promote the film. This is spurious. She never said that, full stop.

  2. IForget says:

    That’s the thing-it never occured to her she could just live her life, ignore the haters, and know that her happiness is most important. If they’re not harming anybody, it shouldn’t matter. Yes, it’s a large age gap, and if I were her friend, I would be there to support her. I wouldn’t make comments about the gap- it would likely only isolate her further. I would want to make sure she was safe, and felt she had access to leave should she wish.

    The reason it never occurred to her, is because she is young and does need some life experience. Maybe this will help her get that experience. I am 34 now, I’m dating someone 8 years younger than me. I’ve dated people my age, younger than me, and up to 15 years older than me. I have found my person, and though we occasionally joke about the gap, it truly doesn’t matter. I am happy and secure, and really don’t give a sh_t what anyone thinks of us. However, if I were in my mid-20’s dealing with something like Flo is now, I think I would have also been quite defensive. That extra ten years of lived experience has truly helped me be discerning about what is worth my time and energy. I still get stressed of course, and I hope that in my mid-forties I can say that I’ve progressed even further with tending my emotional needs and well-being.

    • taris says:

      i don’t actually have a problem with age gaps in relationships – i know people in such relationships who are happy as ever, and it’s not weird at all.
      i think these two were just never a good match. that’s it, really.

      always sad to see a bright girl die on a hill defending a relationship that’s just doomed to fail. i see this all the time with even with my own girlfriends.
      i agree, just be in a relationship and enjoy your man quietly. you can’t possibly respond to everyone with an opinion about your personal life.

  3. Laura says:

    How she even found ZB attractive is beyond me, he looks like the creepy high school teacher that hits on his students. I’m sure he acted the same way too.

  4. SAS says:

    She’s right, I definitely felt happy for her when I heard about the breakup. I’m so fucking sick of these men stealing very young women’s youth, it’s always gross.

    While I’m being uncharitable, my guess is he was super insecure about Harry Styles and made it feel like her fault.

    • Kirsten says:

      She’s an adult — he wasn’t stealing her youth. She’s free to make her own choices about her dating life, and whether or not those choices are good or bad, she has the agency to make them.

    • Red says:

      Zach was pretty good friends with Harry (that might have taken a back seat since he’s closer with Jason), and rumors were that Zach suggested Harry to Olivia after Shia spilt. Why would he be jealous, specifically since Harry and Olivia got together almost immediately?

  5. C says:

    That’s how we know she was too young for it – she had no security in her happiness, which I understand, but with experience you learn to turn off the criticism more effectively especially from complete random strangers.

    • FHMom says:

      Yes. She sounds immature like she is blaming social media for the break up. I mean, huh? That is something an immature 24 year old who lives on social media would say. She is not a Kardashian. She has talent. No need to be online looking for Likes. It also sounds like she is nt enjoying fame very much. Maybe she shouldn’t live in LA.

    • Ella says:

      Everyone here is boasting about learning to “turn off the criticism,” but I doubt anyone here knows what it’s like to deal with public criticism on that scale. Why couldn’t Meghan “turn off the criticism?” Why couldn’t Britney? Because having a few people openly judge you may take a significant toll on your mental health, and having millions people openly judge you may take a massive toll.

  6. Maddy says:

    Re: The breakup “announcement”: Her age is showing.

    I’m also firmly on Camp Something-Happened-BTS-Of-This-Movie and I can’t wait for the press tour. Awkwardness Galore, I hope.

  7. Kiera says:

    I have a theory that two/three things were likely true.
    1. She blew up as they were dating and I’m sure her team wasn’t thrilled with her being with someone who didn’t compliment that profile/didn’t add to it.
    2. One or both realized that given their ages their overall long term goals/needs weren’t aligned in a compatible way.

    Which leads to 3. She internally knew both these things and hated hearing people commenting on the relationship because she felt like she was being told she was wrong and what 20something likes to hear that. So she stayed in part because she did like him and part out of f you to everyone else. But eventually the first two overwhelmed that and when combined with feeling constantly judged led to one or both rethinking the long term capacity of the relationship.

    • whatWHAT? says:

      I think you nailed it.

    • Lens says:

      Kiera I think you hit the nail on the head. I don’t blame her for not putting out the we broke up announcement. People figured it out when they weren’t seen in the same places for months following that movie they did together, so it lessened the glee a bit (although we’re still seeing it on here and other places). It’s easy to say ignore the critics but I liken it to when your friends all hate your boyfriend. It’s hard to feel complete joy when it’s like that. And when everybody is in love with your relationship (like with the Bennifer redo) it affirms it for you. Certainly it shouldn’t matter but it creeps in either way. Anyway Flo’s reaction to all this DWD hullabaloo and her first celebrity pairing is understandable to me.

  8. dlc says:

    I think Florence is an extremely talented and charismatic actor. I also think she sounds like she needs a long vacation, and maybe a break from social media.

    • North of Boston says:

      +1

    • R says:

      Agreed. I love her as an actress, but the pressure and social media got to her I think. She needs a long nap and some tea with friends. And delete her social media for a while.

      • Fortuona says:

        Well she tried hanging out with friends and was stalked by papz .
        Who then edited the pictures – she went on holiday with Will Poulter (and his gf) and a lot of the other actors from Midsommer and they edited them all of them out

    • lucy2 says:

      I agree – it’s unfair that in everything she posted, people were making horrible comments directly to her about her relationship, and she shouldn’t have to close herself off to it because people are monsters, but it is the easiest way to get bogged down in all that and just live your life.
      I like her a lot as an actress too, I think she’s really talented and definitely a strong screen presence.

  9. A says:

    She sounds like she’s still coming to grips with the celebrity part of her job. That she can’t control every single aspect of how the public receives her.

  10. Owlsyn (Ableism is Not Cool) says:

    TBH, even for folks not in show business, external pressures on your relationship can greatly affect it, so I get what she’s saying. It can be hard to date someone “all your friends” hate. I also understand her not wanting to share that they broke up, because it is sad and painful for her and reading how gleeful people are about it would just make it worse.

    I also really like what she said about the movie being marketed with the sex scenes (or, as I call it, Crimson Peak-ing). It seems like all the publicity, both on and off camera, is about who Harry Styles is f—ing.

  11. girl_ninja says:

    She is such a talented dynamic actress. She really has great presence and I hope that her career continues to grow. I get why she wouldn’t want people talking about her breakup with that man. The way people talked about them when they were together was a lot. And that includes me. I just thing Zach is off somehow.

    I agree that she is not pleased with Olivia or Harry and I don’t really blame her. I think the way Olivia fawned over Harry as though HE was the star of this film is just wrong, I would feel some type of way about it too.

    • Ana says:

      Olivia has fawned repeatedly and quite loudly over Florence. She has said and continuously says this is Florence’s movie. Olivia is constantly praising those who have worked on the movie.

      • girl_ninja says:

        After the films wrap, Olivia made a point of praising Harry. I don’t think this was wise. I think at the wrap of the film give props to the ENTIRE cast. I think it was sus and I will always give her side-eye for it.

        I said what I SAID.

      • Silver Charm says:

        Olivia made a point of praising everyone. And she’s continuing to do that with crew members to this day.

    • Fortuona says:

      Thing is she has another film being released on exactly the same day . So she is sticking to the schedule . The Wilde film first ,and then Puss In Boots where she is Psycho Goldilocks

      And was this the amazing Shia who tried to glom all the attention for himself before he was fired for abusing women

  12. Owlsyn (Ableism is Not Cool) says:

    Correct me if I am wrong, but, I know what Olivia Wilde thinks about her film, and we’ve talked a lot about what Florence might think based on her lack of comments, but, has Harry Styles said fuck-all about it? What a weird timeline we’ve entered when nobody is talking about what the male lead of the film has to say about it.

  13. Case says:

    She always sounded childish when they were together, constantly talking about how she’s a grown woman and people were just being haters. When a man 21 years your senior wants to date you when you’re in your early 20s, that’s weird and a cause for concern. Hopefully one day she’ll realize there was a power imbalance there that wasn’t right.

    As for Florence and Olivia Wilde — I really hate how the rumors about this film are centered around a cat fight. It feels so misogynistic. Maybe they have issues with each other, I don’t know, but all this drama surrounding it is taking away from the accomplishments of two talented women.

    • molly says:

      Childish is right. She’s like the kid that digs in their heels and will do the opposite of what you tell them to to. “You don’t think I should date him? Watch me date him LOUDLY and IN YOUR FACE!”

  14. Ana says:

    Following this, especially with the non-sense from Harry’s fandom, I feel like Florence is calling them out. It’s an exhausting and bullying fandom and that’s being nice about them. But, I guess it’s better for gossip to focus on Olivia and Harry.

    I also don’t think the press for this movie is going to be as awkward as people think it will be.

    • Red says:

      To be fair, Olivia is completely playing into the sex part of this movie. And I get why she’s doing that, if she gets his fans riled up, it’s more money for her. But she is pushing it, with her interviews about the “female gaze”, the sex scenes, and she even posted on IG that the movie passed the “clit test”. She’s definitely encouraging it.

      • Silver Charm says:

        I truly don’t understand these latest talking points. Olivia was asked about the sex scene in a Vogue interview and said approximately 100 words about it and one IG post. This fandom latches onto the weirdest things to twist a la the MAGA folks.

      • Red says:

        I’m not part of any fandom, and all I said was she was playing into the part for his fans and I think that’s smart. I’m exhausted by people bending over backwards trying to “defend” Olivia and Harry when I didn’t even say anything negative. Get a grip.

      • Silver Charm says:

        My bad. You were repeating their talking points verbatim.

  15. Cava 24 says:

    I am not sure how Florence acknowledging she and Zach broke up months ago is a “confession”? It is quite common for celebrities to not discuss breakups until months later because everyone has a “take”. I don’t think she’s been interviewed at length in awhile, she worked for much of the year last year and those films are just starting to come out now so I don’t know what forum she would have even talked about it in.

  16. Emmi says:

    A 20-year-old is not a 40-year-old’s equal. That’s just the nature of things, no matter how much of an “old soul” or “mature” they are. That’s 2 decades of life not yet lived. So if the old guy is happy with the young, inexperienced woman, he’s most likely in that relationship because of that dynamic, not in spite of it. Once that goes and not only does the woman grow up but becomes successful and financially independent, my nearly 40 years on this earth tell me those men can’t deal.

    There might be exceptions.

    She sounds like she’s been in a bad mood for a while and frankly, I understand it given the industry she’s in. But it doesn’t make for great interviews.

    • Julia says:

      I have a “Is this age difference too big?” formula: just subtract the age difference from the younger partner’s age, and if the result is A) illegal, B) immoral, or C) super-duper gross, it’s too big. For example, I think the age gap between a 19 year old and a 29 year old is too big, because a 19 year old couldn’t date a nine year old. On the other hand, a 50 year old could totally date a 60 year old, because they could also date a 40 year old without anyone raising an eyebrow. Age differences matter less as both partners grow older, but there’s a LOT of growth and change that happens even to the most “mature” young adults.

  17. Lizzie Bathory says:

    I’ve always felt like Florence was defensive about their age gap because it really upset Zach Braff when people talked about it. In a youth-obsessed industry, I think he’s acutely aware that he’s not the young up-and-coming talent he once was. I never figured they would last since they’re at very different points in their lives, but I felt like there was genuine affection & care between them.

  18. Valentina says:

    Re – Don’t Worry Darling

    I saw a TikTok ages ago which I can’t find now that was made by someone who claimed to be a PA on the movie. The PA implied that the issue for Florence was that Olivia was so wrapped up with Harry that she basically didn’t do her job and Florence had to pick up the slack and direct herself.

    That could all be bull, but I saw that before all of the rumors that came out recently.

    • Silver Charm says:

      It’s b.s. from the Harry fandom. Film sets don’t work like that. There’s no way Florence would just take over directing. It’s a gross, sexist conspiracy theory.

  19. MROWE says:

    I have a theory that the reason people took issue with their relationship isn’t the age difference per se. It’s that he looks firmly the age he is (he and I are the same age and he looks like all my friends’ husbands) and she looks younger than she is. So the visual of them together was strikingly incongruous. I would say the same thing is the case with Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas.

    • elle says:

      And he looks virtually identical to her father.

      • Gah says:

        Whoa just googled photos and creeeeepy!

        I always side eye women who hookup with look alike of their dad or brother

    • Case says:

      I mean…21 years is a lot. It’s less of a big deal if both people are over 35, but Florence was in her early 20s when they got together, and the woman he dated prior to Florence was also significantly younger than him.

      • MROWE says:

        Oh yeah, I don’t disagree, but there are so many similar age differences in Hollywood. My point was that THIS couple seemed particularly odd because of the visuals. Like Chopra and Jonas.

  20. kate says:

    “confesses”? Weird word choice in the title.

  21. WiththeAmerican says:

    It’s getting so I can’t bear reading the misogynistic anti OW comments so I ended up skipping the last half.(always read the articles in full, just not the comments)

    her public attitude about this film is profoundly immature and unprofessional. She really needs to grow up. She isn’t always going to be the center and that’s okay.

    There are so many people who have a lot invested in a film after months and years of work, part of the job is making sure you don’t undermine that work because they aren’t the ones you’re mad at.

    I’m about done with her selfish attitude – even if OW preferred Harry and never said a good thing about FP (which isn’t true), work is work. You do your job and promote a film, the success or not of which will impact crew members on down the line. Their entire careers.

    She’s very talented but needs a few years to grow up and see other people exist besides herself.

    • Cava 24 says:

      Olivia wearing a tee shirt saying “The Future is Female Ejaculation” on set is far more immature and unprofessional than anything Florence has done. Florence shouldn’t have to answer a bunch of questions about the sex scenes or making out with Harry for the film or whatever when they promote it and she got ahead of it and said she doesn’t want people to view the film in those terms.
      There’s plenty of misogyny directed at Florence in all the “shut up and promote the film” “shut up about your relationship that we think we understand better than you do” discourse on here.

      The crew got paid (presumably) and will be fine, their future employment does not rest on a film that wrapped 18 months ago. Olivia’s back end deal may be impacted by this and the custody drama with Jason (it is highly questionable she was going to make anything to begin with) but she should still net out ahead of where she was before she took up with Harry via the interest created by all the tabloid articles about them.

      • WiththeAmerican says:

        Yeah, actually the success of a film does help the crew. As it does for anyone. The better the film does, the higher you rise and more desirable you are.

        As for the rest of your response, it seems like the rules are super different for OW – FP should be given leeway, but OW shouldn’t. On and on.

        I’m slayed that you think that t shirt is unprofessional for a film set. Lol.

      • Cava 24 says:

        Do you think a male director can wear that tee shirt on a film set? There’s your answer about whether it is professional.

        If the box office for the film has so much impact on what the film crew makes in the future (and again, this film probably wasn’t going to make that much to begin with) you might wonder why the guy with 47 million followers on IG, whose partner has back end on the film is doing fuck-all to promote it.

  22. LIONE says:

    “…I don’t think that people, just because they have this job, that every aspect of their life should be watched and written about. We haven’t signed up for a reality TV show.”

    This is a thing that’s being repeated so many times by so many fame hungry people (who almost always claim to take a job for the people they get to work with and it’s “never” about the money and exposure and fame they get) in different versions, and it’s basically saying:
    I want the advantages and privileges of the job, but not the disadvantages. I want to have my cake and eat too.
    Then please, for the love of anything remotely holy, choose less exposure and be more private!
    Work in a theater. Seek out jobs that let you focus solely on “the art” and not on exposing yourself and building a brand and image. There are SO many actors who would kill for her opportunities and who also keep their life on lock down because they choose to.

    I am so tired of hearing them whine about this.. It’s immature and extremely privileged considered all the extra fluff and goodies they take away from it.
    “I want to be a big movie star and people to adore me, but I don’t want them to care about me as a person, even though all my PR is set up to sell my soul, body and human existance”.
    You have a problem with setting boundaries and the whole “movie star” thing? OK, then go away.

    I am not condoning the treatment some stars get btw (Britney Spears, Kiera Knightly ect, paparazzis can be dangerous) but it’s entirely possible to live low key and be a huge star. And it’s not PEOPLE’S fault, it’s the MEDIA, your PR TEAM and the INDUSTRY who push for this.
    A job like that WILL come with it’s disadvantages. It won’t change. It’s a fact, we all know it. Some want it, most don’t.
    You’ve grown up with this, Florence. You knew this going into it. All jobs and positions have sides to the job you’ll dislike.

    Crying about becoming famous while working to become more famous really makes me dislike certain people.
    She was cool in my eyes, now I’m tired of her already. So privileged and out of touch with reality. Next thing she’s going to cry about the fame the next Dune-project is going to give her. Oh noooo, money, opportunities, invitations, more privileges. Come on!

    • Ramona says:

      +1 totally agree and that’s why I like stars like Hiddleston :he seems pleasant and always grateful.

      • Case says:

        Tom Hiddleston — who yes, is always gracious and lovely — is also a great example of someone who started out pretty open and got to be a little overexposed, realized he didn’t want that for himself, and switched his PR/lifestyle accordingly. He’s now engaged and becoming a father soon yet we know nothing about the details beyond that.

  23. Ksenia says:

    Florence still is railing against ‘sexists’ about the nipple thing huh. I love Florence, she’s the bomb (and from a gossip angle no one ever has anything bad to say about her). I do have to say, who was Florence’s “empowering” post about her nipples ~really~ for? It reminds me of Gigi Hadid’s “I’m still sample size” faux body positivity post in 2015: yes body shaming is Bad and it is also true you meet the standard of beautiful white size 2 woman. You get to be at the Valentino show precisely because of how you look. You get to be an A List movie star precisely because of how you look. You got a top agent and your agent sent you to the best auditions, and you got to audition for the lead role precisely because you are a size 2 beautiful white woman. In Hollywood, small breasts, small everything, are preferred because small breasts fit sample size 0-2. Like…Lizzo wouldn’t get a Valentino ad campaign. Valentino prefers the likes of Zendaya and we all know why. And where is Valentino asking even Barbie Ferreira, who would look amazing in Valentino, to sit front row? And 98% of the commenters on Florence’s posts are on her side. Of course I agree with Florence’s overall sentiment, but all of the points I’ve made leave me asking, who is this screed ~actually~ for, Florence? She still hasn’t had someone explain this to her, everyone is #girlboss cheering her on ugh.

  24. Honeychurch says:

    I read the whole Harper’s interview and girlfriend needs a break from social media. I really like Florence as an actress but the whole vibe throughout the interview is just giving me peevish brat. Where’s her team in all this?

  25. shabs says:

    Nothing in the interview reads badly to me so I don’t really get the criticism to be honest