If I was Olivia Wilde’s publicist, I would simply sit on her until she stopped talking. Even before everything went sideways in Venice, there was actually no reason for Olivia to be front-and-center of the promotional blitz for Don’t Worry Darling, certainly not to this extent. Yes, she’s the director, but directors usually aren’t on the cover of Variety and Vanity Fair, lying their asses off and spreading their toxicity. So that shows that regardless of what went down with Florence Pugh, Olivia was always going to make the film’s promotion all about Olivia. So, in August, Olivia’s Variety cover story came out and wouldn’t you know, she talked a lot of sh-t about Jason Sukeidis and Shia LaBeouf. Then Shia dropped the receipts – in the form of a video she sent him, begging him to come back because “Miss Flo” needed a “wake up call” – and Olivia looked like a liar and an a–hole. Following that, Florence skipped everything but the Venice premiere. The cast is on Miss Flo’s side, not Olivia’s.
Well, Olivia originally sat down with Vanity Fair before any of that happened, then Vanity Fair had to update their COVER STORY before they published it online this week because Olivia was basically doing the same drama-queen martyr act she tried to pull in Variety, and everything has now blown up in her face. You can read the full piece here. Here’s the section on Shia:
Wilde says her dedication to a safe set was tested before cameras even rolled on Don’t Worry Darling. She’d initially cast Shia LaBeouf, not Styles, to play Alice’s husband. But during preproduction, Wilde tells me in London, Pugh told her that she was uncomfortable with LaBeouf’s behavior. Wilde says she called LaBeouf herself and fired him: “My responsibility was towards her. I’m like a mother wolf. Making the call was tricky, but in a way he understood. I don’t think it would’ve been a process he enjoyed. He comes at his work with an intensity that can be combative. It wasn’t the ethos that I demand in my productions. I want him to get well and to evolve because I think it’s a great loss to the film industry when someone that talented is unable to work.”
Reports of LaBeouf being fired first surfaced in 2020, but after Wilde and I spoke, the actor publicly disputed her recollection, saying, in an email he shared with Variety, “I quit your film,” and claiming he left the production because there wouldn’t be enough rehearsal time. After the premiere in Venice, as private messages between Pugh and LaBeouf are parsed giddily online, Wilde tells me this: “This issue is so much more nuanced than can be explained in private texts released out of context. All I’ll say is he was replaced, and there was no going forward with him. I wish him the best in his recovery.”
A source with knowledge of the situation tells V.F. that the truth is a couple shades of gray: The actor was indeed unhappy with the limited amount of rehearsal time that Pugh had available, and Pugh, in turn, was uncomfortable with his intensity. LaBeouf is said to have given Wilde an ultimatum—she had to choose between him and his costar. Wilde chose Pugh. The tricky, and quintessentially Hollywood, part is that, to spare LaBeouf’s ego, she seems to have allowed him to believe what he wanted to believe: that he was quitting.
Despite the expressions of kindness in LaBeouf’s email to Wilde, his response was wounding. Among other things, he released a video that Wilde sent him—apparently before Pugh registered her discomfort with the actor—in which she encourages him to stay on the film, and utters a phrase that could not have endeared her with the true star of her movie: “I think this might be a bit of a wake-up call for Miss Flo.”
Think of just how arrogant Olivia is that she created this entire narrative about firing Shia and doing the most to “protect” Florence only to be completely kneecapped by her own video memo to Shia, which showed that she’s completely full of it. Not only that, but she won’t put her name to a more involved lie, thus “a source with knowledge of the situation” is called upon to turn Olivia into the victim and heroine of the story. Because Olivia knows that if she tries to tell lies about Shia again, he’ll probably drop more receipts on her.
Meanwhile, VF also asked Wilde about the rumor that she was so wrapped up in throwing herself at Harry Styles that her cinematographer had to direct some scenes:
“It is very rare that people assume the best from women in power,” she says. “I think they don’t often give us the benefit of the doubt. Florence did the job I hired her to do, and she did it exquisitely. She blew me away. Every day I was in awe of her, and we worked very well together.” She pauses. “It is ironic that now, with my second film—which is again about the incredible power of women, what we’re capable of when we unite, and how easy it is to strip a woman of power by using other women to judge and shame them—we’re talking about this.”
“The idea that I had five seconds in the day to be distracted by anything is laughable,” she says. “I was there before everyone. I was there after everyone. And it was a dream. It’s not like this work was not enjoyable. It was just all-encompassing.”
Yeah, we’ll see. Pugh refused to speak to VF and Wilde continued to sing Pugh’s praises in the interview, even after the Venice premiere. Oh, and Olivia denied leaving Jason Sudeikis for Harry Styles too:
“The complete horsesh-t idea that I left Jason for Harry is completely inaccurate. Our relationship was over long before I met Harry. Like any relationship that ends, it doesn’t end overnight. Unfortunately, Jason and I had a very bumpy road, and we officially dissolved the relationship towards the beginning of the pandemic. We were raising two kids during lockdown, so we co-parented through that time. Once it became clear that cohabitating was no longer beneficial for the children, it became the responsible thing to not, because we could be better parents as friends who live in different houses…. I don’t understand the need to create false narratives and drama around this kind of stuff. It’s like, haven’t the kids been through enough?”
Again, “sources close to Olivia” have always insisted that Olivia and Jason broke up around March-April 2020 and they only announced the split months later. Sources close to Jason have a different story, one where they were very much together up until the point where Olivia began banging Harry. Olivia once again addresses the CinemaCon situation, where she was served custody papers on stage, and once again she uses the “I wasn’t that shocked. There’s a reason that I didn’t stay in that relationship. Unfortunately, that was consistent with my experience of the relationship” line, which is similar to what she said to Variety. The thing is, I’m not sure anyone is buying it.
Covers courtesy of Vanity Fair.
Mother wolf my left foot. More like Mother Gothel.
Any press for this film is just a catastrophic failure at this point. Like, we are reaching Apocalypse Now-level infamy.
All of that being said, I hope Olivia can truly, truly learn and grow from this experience. We DO give male directors all of the chances when they behave badly. So I hope that she can make amends to those that she needs to, and come back better. Be a source of strength and inspiration instead of a bad example.
She’s not learning anything. Vanity Fair got back in touch with her after all this drama. This is her amended version. She’s doing nothing but digging in her heels.
Digging in GIANT heels, apparently. WTF are those shoes? Could you even walk in them to sit upside down in that chair?
Excellent response Miss Owlsyn! I couldn’t agree more. I hope Olivia comes back and actually becomes all these things she said she was. I mean please, do we need to remember Roman Polanski? Since his (alleged) rape of a minor he has received an Oscar, palm d’Or, Cesar etc etc. If a woman did that, she would never again get financial backing to direct a movie. NEVER.
Or maybe we can all root for a POC female director or at least someone who walks the walk, since olivia has proven herself to be the poster girl for self serving white feminism?
Plenty of other female directors that we can tback with both our voices and wallets.
I have my doubts Olivia will have a career left in directing after all of this. When’s the last time we heard of a big huge from someone say like Ava du Vernay? She’s been completely perfect and non-problematic as a director and has had projects slow. Olivia’s in deep sh*t. Especially now that she’s pissed off perhaps Hollywood’s favorite “it girl” of the moment in Florence.
Catherine Hardwick apparently cried ONCE on the set of the first Twilight movie and they fired her and hired male directors for all the others, even after her film was a major success. She hasn’t done much since. Olivia Wilde does have some influential friends but we’ll see what happens.
I honestly don’t understand how Florence Pugh is an it girl. I’ve read that she is. I thought a realistic body type in Black Widow was a nice touch but she has absolutely no star power imo. She reads as a completely unrealistic love interest for Harry Styles in the trailer.
Good that you’re not painting OW as the she-devil as many others, Miss Owlsyn. She definitely needs to learn about publicity, because she’s talking way too much, and some of it is starting to look like at least adjusting the truth.
But she hasn’t exactly done anything criminal as far as we know. We really don’t have so many female directors yet, that we should annihilate someone’s career based on a feeling that we may not like her as a person.
Thing is, we don’t know what’s the deal. Maybe OW was somehow unprofessional towards FP – ans/or maybe FP was somehow unprofessional and needed OW’s intervention. Both can be true.
As well, maybe Shia was too intense, but also maybe Florence was skipping rehearsals for no good reason. Again, both can be true.
I do know that Florence is getting off too easily here: it appears she’s ready to tank the film (by not doing promotion and behaving in a way that fans the flames) – film that many other people than OW worked very hard on (if that is OW even wronged FP). That’s not cool either. In fact, it’s juvenile, and I wonder if it affects her career options too..?
Florence Pugh was living with Zach Braff at the time the supposed DWD rehearsals with Shia and Olivia at Chris Pine’s house were missed. Nick Cordero died of Covid the first week of July. The timeline of Shia’s receipts matches up to this.
It’s entirely fair that Pugh was reluctant to do these rehearsals outside of the official Covid protocols that the film set later established. Florence has had nothing but praise for everyone involved in the film except Olivia and (possibly) Harry. If this movie truly lives and dies off her performance and she wants to now disassociate from it, she must have pretty strong reasons beyond just wanting to stick it to Olivia.
Pugh is an Oscar nominee and a Marvel superhero. After Don’t Worry Darling and The Wonder, she has two already completed films and is filming Dune 2. I’d say her and her team are aware what she is contractually owed this film. I’m sure she’ll be fine.
Harry doesn’t strike me as someone who loves drama (with the exception of his clothes which are always deliciously dramatic)…I’m guessing he’s tired of this.
Didn’t he bring a lot of drama to Venice?
I’m reminded of the ancient joke that behind every hot woman is a man somewhere that is sick of her sh*t. Now that is misogynist AF but I wonder if Harry is sick of Olivia’s sh*t and unnecessary drama. That gets old pretty quick for most people.
I’d say, incredibly messy covers to go with the incredibly messy story.
Why is she styled like Jennifer Lopez?!
This woman, phewwwww
……But keep the drama coming, I love it hahah
This is FANTASTIC gossip, and I am very much enjoying it.
Dig deeper, Olivia. It’s all good by me.
I reread her Variety post from here and she obviously is a reader of Celebitchy.
Here is why;
Celebrity gossip: “The whole culture of celebrity gossip is interesting as a distracting tool to numb people from the greater pains of the world. Escapism is really a very human quality, searching for something to anesthetize the painful reality of so many people’s lives.
Escapism!!! Isn’t that the tag line for Celebitchy????? I’m just saying……
It really is bizarre. Why make her the center of attention as the director of the movie? She complains that male directors don’t get this treatment, but they also don’t center themselves around all the publicity for it. Or maybe she had to because Olivia was declining to do so? Who knows. That it became a perfect storm, where her personal life and professional life collided through every fault of her own might have played a teeny part too.
I think if the film was expected to garner awards, Florence would’ve put aside her issues to promote the hell out of it. Maybe it fell to Olivia because literally no one else wanted to be associated with it.
If the Golden Globes is smart they’ll nominate all the actors and Olivia and put them at a table together lol
ETA: I did some brief googling and it looks like she centered herself quite a bit during Booksmart promo too. A NY Times profile, Vanity Fair profile, and on and on. So it’s probably just all Olivia.
I think the current movie culture is quite interested in directors. When they have a new film out, you’ll absolutely see press from Guillermo Del Toro, Greta Gerwig, Spike Lee, Robert Eggers, and Quentin Tarantino. Couple that with the fact that Olivia was a relatively known actress before her directorial debut, and of course she has press coverage on her own.
I’d pay good money to see Guillermo del Toro on the cover of VF sprawled out in a sheer minidress and 10” platform heels.
OW can wear what she wants to wear of course, but I’m old enough to remember Julia Sugerbaker giving a photographer the what-for about a similar situation.
Yeah this is a good point and I don’t think it’s wrong for directors to do press-it’s their vision and it’s good promotion for the film.
But it’s different if their interviews and PR statements are actively harming the success of their work.
I think that Wilde should have taken a step back in this case–especially when the rumors about her and HS started to overshadow her work. When she got served at Cinemacon with papers, it was an opportunity for her to use that press to her advantage by just staying quiet. I bet a LOT of people would have seen her as the victim if she had–or at the very least, felt sorry for her. But as OP states here, she continued to talk, thus centering herself in all of this drama. Since then, it’s been pretty much a dumpster fire mostly of her own making.
1. Because inside Hollywood directors are the actual center of attention on projects. 2. Women directors are a novelty in 2022 in this effed up system. 3. Few women directors are this, forgive me, conventionally “hot” and Hollywood is run by horn dog guys. 4. Directors are the “great artists”. 5. Olivia’s thirsty as hell and pushing herself in the role described by points 1-4 relentlessly. She wants to be the hot genius, leading woman director. But this is ain’t doing it.
In hindsight that cover photo is doing her no favours.
Oh and considering her martyr complex goes back to when she lied about consulting the family of the deceased female journalist she played in Richard Jewell (and then playing her in a grossly misogynistic fictionalization)? Yeah I don’t buy any of it from her. Really curious now to see how the inevitable break up with Styles takes place. Or maybe that will be the “media’s” fault. 🙄
Maybe not, but boy do I want the eyeshadow colors she’s wearing in the pictures! Glorious!
She’s giving No Dana, only Zuul
@margie: HILARIOUS! Ha! see it…and hear it.
Oooooh…I had forgotten her bad behavior (and portrayal) regarding the journalist in the Jewell movie. That was honestly worse than anything she’s done with regard to Don’t Worry Darling. She is just the epitome of Performative White Feminism.
I don’t understand why Olivia, the director, is so out front in the promotion of her film. It just seems to be all about her. As for the shades of gray surrounding Shia, I call bs. She didn’t allow him to think he quit because she had secretly let him go. He quit because he wasn’t getting what he wanted. She tried to get him back. It’s not that complicated. Especially when she says it in her video message.
She’s always rubbed me the wrong way. The smugness just oozes out of her face.
It’s even crazier when you consider her casting. She has Chris Pine, Florence Pugh, and Gemma Chan…bonafide film stars and cover material who could be making the magazine rounds for this movie. You also have Harry Styles (but from his press soundbites, it sounds like he’s rather dull as an actor)….and instead of your cast promoting your film…you have Olivia who has taken both Variety and Vanity Fair covers leaving her cast in the wind. No wonder they don’t want to promote this thing. I wouldn’t want to compete with my director for press either.
Also, the article says that video was sent BEFORE Florence registered her discomfort with the actor. So at best, it was a matter of Shia quitting, Olivia trying to get him back, Florence saying to OW “hey I’m uncomfortable” and maybe then OW deciding just to go with it and let Shia walk away. But that’s not the same as “letting Shia think he was quitting.” He had already quit. She had already tried to get him back.
And yes, its weird that Olivia is so front and center for this movie. She has some huge movie stars in this film, some huge up and coming stars (I think Pugh is somewhere in between, I know she’s popular but I don’t think she’s quite a “huge movie star” yet, but will be soon) – I mean Gemma Chan would have NAILED a Vanity Fair cover. and yet its the director?
But if Shia had already quit, then why would Florence tell Olivia she was uncomfortable about his conduct. Then, the narrative said that Olivia contacted Shia because she’s like a mother wolf, Shia wasn’t comfortable with her call but he understood. Huh? Then, there’s the bit about Olivia’s “ethos” she likes to create on the set. All of that suggests that Olivia was saying she fired Shia for the good of the crew & Florence’s comfort.
Then, after the Venice premier there seems to be some backtracking. OW tells V.F. that there’s more nuance there (which I’m sure there would be), and she says that the text messages were out of context (okay). OW then follows with, “All I’ll say is he [Shia] was replaced, and there was no going forward with him.” Uh-huh.
This story seems totally avoidable from OW’s standpoint, but I’m sure she’ll survive. In fact, I don’t think her career is at any risk.
To be fair, this is not unusual promotion when a well-known actor (or actress) goes into directing, see George Clooney. I guess there just aren’t that many women who go behind the camera.
I can sort of see this except…..Olivia Wilde isn’t George Clooney, you know? In terms of star power and name recognition etc.
Yes I noticed this during Booksmart as well mainly because I was interested in kaitlyn Dever and of course Beanie. But it was all about Olivia. She was sooo effusive about them and their girl energy. But actors turned directors sometimes do make the film publicity all about them (see Ben Affleck) but sometimes not (see Elizabeth Banks). Like I said yesterday I had read blinds that the cinematographer was doing a lot of the heavy lifting in the film and it seems like many rumors, there is a bit of truth to it.
Said this to an above comment — it’s really not that weird. Current movie culture is putting more emphasis on directors. Couple that with the fact that Olivia was an actress before becoming a director and this media coverage is not surprising. You can expect to see the same from Greta Gerwig when the Barbie movie comes out, for example.
So your prediction is that Greta Gertwig, and not the movie’s stars, will be on all the magazine covers?
This a person who seems to have gotten what she wanted most of her life. Now here she is faced with being called out as a liar and a cheater. Though one is definitely true with Shia and Florence issue it’s not so clear with her relationship with Jason. I can believe that their relationship did just fade and end but falling for Harry gave her the exclamation point to end it fully. I really do Jason is working the blindsided, heartbroken partner. Remember he cheated and left his former wife so…
Regardless, homegirl is messy as f*ck.
Jason’s ex-wife said she found him reading one of those pick up artist books one night and he claimed it was just curiosity. And Olivia said he walked up to her at an SNL after party and said something along the lines of “whatever it is you’re looking for, you don’t need it” and then walked away before she could respond 🤮🤮🤮
Ok, and Olivia has said a lot of crappy things about both her first husband and now Jason.
At least Jason is still on good terms with his ex.
Well, it makes sense that she was with Jason for so long. They both seem pretty awful. (Olivia not Kay)
You know what I’m trying to understand is how she hasn’t been tarred with the same brush that Rupert Sanders did. I mean he a fling with his star while filming too. I don’t read tabloids so maybe I missed it. Is it because his wife spoke up while Jason didn’t?
At this point, I’m embarrassed for her.
Does anyone know how much rehearsal is typical before a film? Shia’s texts to Florence were from May and they started shooting in September. It’s not like they were staging a play. I didn’t even know they did rehearsals for film.
Was that just Shia’s request? Florence wouldn’t be paid for that, I get why she gave him the runaround.
Usually a week or so, with a longer prep period for stunt training etc. For this type of a film, a week would have been enough, and there would have been time in blocking the scenes before they roll camera for them to rehearse. Being an actress herself, I can’t imagine Olivia scrimping on rehearsal time. Some actors demand silly amounts of time to rehearse as though it is a play. I suspect Shia was demanding extra work here that wasn’t necessary and probably didn’t fit other actors’ schedules.
Thank you! It seemed like he was demanding way too much to me but I wasn’t sure.
Also, this was May 2020. Florence has asthma and some kind of other rare breathing problem. Her family had to move to Spain to get her to a warmer climate when she was a child. I’m guessing she had no interest in exposing herself to covid when it was at its worst, completely unnecessarily, because Shia sees himself as some kind of artiste.
Her parents told her to move to LA for the duration of the Pandemic . Tracheomalacia is what she had
I laughed out loud at the first sentence. “If i her piblicist i would simply sit on her until she stopped taking. ” hysterical!!!
I’m still in shock that she used the word ETHOS in her interview.
She comes across as holier than thou and condescending.
It seems that being Olivia’s “foe” is a good thing. All you have to do is be silent and she does all the work of making herself look bad on her own.
I’m convinced she’s a narcissist. She directed the film, has a part in it, banged the lead, has taken all the covers, and made all the drama about herself. No wonder Florence (and now, maybe even Harry) want no part of it. It’s so offputting.
Bingo.
I could not agree more. Covert narcissist: just as irritating and dangerous. She’s dangerous because she is willing to say anything. She can’t help it.
Yeah, she keeps putting herself front and center and continuing to tell stories that make her the heroine that no one asked for and that aren’t true. I love Florence Pugh as an actress, but I’m beginning to get her as a person because she’s side-eyeing the entire circus and refusing to wade into the ocean of messy that Olivia Wilde has created.
Agreed–this drama was totally unnecessary and unprofessional. I wonder if Wilde is a secret self-sabotager, because why would anyone with sense and industry knowledge wreck an opportunity like this?
Everything sure does seem to revolve around her, doesn’t it. I’m surprised she casted herself as a side character and not the lead, the way the attention is going.
@ Jessie Quinton, This 👆👆👆👆👆!!!!!
OW will never change as she has NO desire to change. She has been and will always be a faux feminist all while spreading her narcissistic personality all over the place.
OW refuses to take responsibility for anything that she does. As far as I am concerned, everything that comes out of her mouth is a lie. No question whatsoever. OW made this mess and she can lay in her own 💩.
I can only assume she continues to effusively praise Florence bc Florence has *even more* receipts and Olivia’s only move here is to not tempt her into dropping them
Agreed – her compliments of Miss Flo seem like overkill IMO
The rear-end kissing of Pugh is part of the covert narcissists’ playbook. “Look here! Girl power! I’m a nice person. Florence is amazing!” Meanwhile, she is manipulative behind everyone’s back and making the entire film about her.
I really liked Olivia Wilde before the lying about the journalist she played, and now this, but my personal experience with a narcissistic ex who attempted to kill my kid makes me shudder when I read or hear the bonkers logic of a narcissistic person.
Yes the amount of pile on is undoubtedly misogynist, but she is still behaving in actress mode. Publicity for a film generally centers the actors, with maybe an interview or two with the director, accompanied by photos showing how serious and artistic they are, certainly not with this sort of glamour extravaganza. Does she realize you can say no to this stuff?
Have to wonder if the on set problems were from her at least subconsciously stepping back from the leadership requirements of the director role. Probably doing what she felt needed to be done, but not fulfilling the emotional needs of her cast and crew.
As to the time between the video message and the start of the shoot, films are often scheduled based on the availability of the actors. Looks like Florence was shooting The Wonder in August, so the start date was probably waiting on her.
DWD filmed at the back end of 2020
The Wonder filmed in August 2021
Pile-on-commenter here to say that I am an equal opportunity narcissist pointer, lol!
Her behavior is that of a covert narcissist: that is someone who wants the world to see them as the victim, but they get upset when you don’t agree, and then they sabotage you for not falling into line. Most narcissistic people are overt, like Ioan Gruffold’s (sp?) wife. Brad Pitt is covert, so it took forever for people to finally understand.
In my opinion, based on what’s happening now, she’s been this way the whole time. It’s just easier to hide if you get to select when to talk.
Right now, the people around Olivia are protecting her. They haven’t been stung yet. No worries. She can’t help herself, so the fall out will be rolling for a while. She usually can hide it, but watching her mind turn in real time, and reading her crazy justifications, tell me she may learn to go underground with it, but it will still be there.
Again, people like this are dangerous. She met her match in another narcissistic person, Shia, who is just as dangerous and has no fucks to give. It’s just that he is openly dangerous, and people feel it from him. The crap they are spewing kills careers. Shia and OW both know what they were doing. Pugh and company wanted no part of that.
As someone who has legally fought these types of beasts, OW fits the profile.
Let’s just say that narcissism is not a distinguishing characteristic in Hollywood. My assumption is that others are just better at covering up than she is currently managing. If narcissistic behavior is a problem for you, don’t look to the performing arts for your fandom. I say this as someone who has voraciously read Hollywood biographies and history for years.
@fortunoa Thanks, I looked up The Wonder, didn’t double check DWD. Has it really been going on for over two years? Had to explain to a friend that this was a very long slow moving car wreck.
Oh please, now she’s afraid to direct because of misogyny? Let’s stop treating women like babies with no agency who tip toe through life. She seems quite capable of telling people what to do and how to do it. Her problems stem from her need to insert herself front and center all the time.
Other women have directed without this type of drama.
Let’s support women and feminism, and let’s NOT INFANTILIZE women. That’s just as bad.
Tell ‘em, Mel!!!
It’s very hard for me to take her seriously about her uprightness amid the breakup with Jason when she went to the press and told them it had to be over with him because after seven years her ‘vagina had just died.’ I am sure that might be true for her, but that kind of weird sexualized public humiliation is not the way to keep a friendship with your co-parent, and the kids you share will easily Google that someday. Maybe he’s a creep – but if so, I can’t help but think they were kind of a good match in that regard.
Olivia made the comment about her vagina dying about her ex-husband (not Jason who she never married). Still a super shitty comment to make to the press, but she didn’t say it about her co parent.
Ive actually always liked Olivia but man, this whole situation has changed my mind.
See, I’ve always DISliked her because of that comment. I can’t stand oversharers . Imagine if any actor had said that about his d*ck–just low-class and needlessly cruel.
“Well, yes, she did say different things to different people, but she meant the stuff she said while promoting her movie and didn’t really mean the stuff she said to Shia in private!”
Can we also discuss how in the video she looks like she is driving on / merge if onto a large road/freeway even and she’s devoting AT LEAST 50% of her attention / eyes to the video msg for Shia? WTF.
That’s what stood out for me! She’s concentrating on making her little video while driving on a SoCal freeway!!! That’s crazy!!
Eep…. I can’t imagine anyone is thrilled about all of these pre-done interviews…. this isn’t a great look.
Right. Why in hell would you let the actor think he quit? That’s ridiculous. And she isn’t even the one putting that out there. In fact, she’s talking in circles and never really sets the record straight which probably means that what’s out there is very close to the truth.
If whoever this Hollywood insider is was telling the truth, why the Pugh drama? Clearly, we don’t know the whole story but I assume we know a big chunk. Whatever is still not known is most likely not going to make Olivia look better, hence her incessant praise for Florence Pugh. Probably doesn’t want to piss her off more.
Letting him think he quit isn’t that unusual, especially if the employer thinks the employee might litigate their termination. There are a lot of industries where the employee ends up resigning just before they’re terminated. It’s a way of saving face for the employee. I can see that happening here but OW giving her “mother wolf”/ “protector of Flo” story to the press kinda botched it so SL dropped receipts.
Talking in circles is the distraction technique of the narcissistic person.
It’s how you move goalposts. “Well, it looks that way because THIS new thing was more important. You didn’t know, but it isn’t my fault that I had to hide how I had to fix things and it screwed you over” is the standard manipulative tactic that keeps folks off balance who are struggling to understand why things got so messy. They keep your head spinning.
I really like Olivia. Now I can’t I see how her mind works to undermine those around her as she is praising the crap out of them. Another tell is that she feels so justified in her logic and confident that no one will figure it out. Creepy narcissistic stuff.
I can’t type: revision.
I really LIKED Olivia. Now I can’t unsee how her mind works, and it makes me want to puke.
The things she said about Harry are insane too. She talk about him being a feminist because he was willing to wear an apron in the movie. Or that his concert is the only time you see thousands of women be happy. Just bizarre.
Ugh. The bar for men is so low, it’s practically on the floor.
But didn’t she say she learned a long time ago that talking about her significant other in interviews doesn’t help the relationship? The woman is a mess, man.
People are acting like this is the only production with some crazy backstory. Films from the beginning of cinema had directors sleeping with stars and then freezing other actors out, drama and hijinks from everyone involved with the movie-it’s interesting that this has now become this very public pile on of Olivia Wilde.
That’s true, but OW told us that she was different and would not let that happen.
Fewer would care if she wasn’t trying to hide her real self by trumpeting feminist ideologies and workplace practices. She’d of banged the leading man and no one would have really cared because that happens all the time.
The hypocrisy is why this is such a big story. It’s like those directors who were finally called out for years of being feminist but weren’t. The Wonder Woman director was that way.
Olivia sweetie, put the shovel down and take a seat.
There’s definitely a good deal of misogyny being aimed at her as plenty of make directors have been just as messy/unprofessional (or worse) and skated without consequence.
That being said, she appears to have no self-awareness to understand how her own actions have caused a good deal of this mess. Or, at least that’s how everything is coming across.
I read on another gossip site that someone ran into her at the Venice film festival. They encountered her in a stairwell. She was alone and seemed “very sad”.
IF this is true, perhaps she does understand how bad all of this is but does she accept/realize her own role in creating the drama?
I think she would absolutely have been sad, she was shown up by her entire cast, and outed as a liar, publicly. But sad for her actions? I’m agreeing with people above, she’s a narcissist. Hence making herself the victim. That’s not being self aware or showing contrition.
As far as the Olivia/Jason drama… I think they both cheated or had some sort of open relationship agreement, but she’s the one who took it a bit too far and fell for Harry. That’s why Jason is so bitter. I like Jason (he’s from my hometown and everyone who has met him said he’s a great guy), but I don’t buy that he’s the poor, innocent party in all this like he wants everyone to think he is.
“Haven’t the kids been through enough?” she says, as she repeatedly and publicly talks poorly about their father and her relationship with him.
STOP.
Yup. Co-sign.
This to me was the worst thing she’s sad. Like are you being serious Olivia? Keep your break up and current relationship private. STOP TALKING ABOUT IT.
So LeBron James was a option for a cover profile and they chose Wilde?
*Whoopi okay gif*
I never been of a fan of Olivia Since she badmouth her ex husband after she got involved Jason just because Olivia is a woman she not above criticism . I don’t see people on here hold their back criticism against Beyoncé or Meghan or any woman of color . So why it’s not ok to called out Olivia she been messy for years she has literally centered herself for years as feminist champion she a liar who finally been called out. If man can get called out for their behavior woman should be called out too it’s not anti feminist to called out Olivia for her behavior.
@Vanessa, THANK YOU!!!
@Vanessa: Say it again and louder for those in the back!
Are you kidding?! People “on here” very rarely criticize Beyonce or Meghan, and most seem firmly opposed to Olivia with all this bs (as am I). This point doesn’t work here.
She has so many other things she could be talking about – how they got the script they adapted, why she really liked the work of the various people she hired – all the behind the scenes people, how the schedule changed a few times from Covid, what the editing process and scoring was like etc, literally anything about the actual movie. And there is misogyny in comments about her parenting and her age gap with Harry but she wants to paint any and all criticism of her as being rooted in misogyny and burnish her cred for cultural awareness or something? It’s just baffling when she could really have helped her image with these interviews and she just kept making it worse.
I actually do believe that she let Shia think he was leaving, rather than fire him outright, once it became clear that he and Pugh couldn’t work together. But I also believe that if she could have found a way to keep him in the film, she would have, despite Pugh’s discomfort, and his horrible reputation.
I also believe she probably lied to Harry about the circumstances surrounding Shia leaving the film, and probably tried to make it sound like she forced Shia out with an eye towards casting Harry. And Harry now knows that was a lie. And I believe that Olivia probably told Harry she and Jason were over before they started hooking up, and he now realizes she’s a liar, so he’s questioning that, too. And I believe that is why she and Harry are no longer together.
Anyone else wondering why Wilde is promoting this movie as if she is the lead actress? The premiere dress and all the interviews etc? She claims to represent women and feminism as a director but is promoting as the lead actress.
Does anyone remember when Witherspoon started producing (as a reference) ? She showed up in nice-but-not-photogenic outfit signalling her professional input on the project. It was a marked choice and whilst we could all argue that it shouldn’t be necessary, it was a demonstration of how the game is played. So to me, now, looking at pictures of Wilde front and center, it seems she is not choosing to promote as a Director, despite words to the contrary? What to make of it? An error in judgment? She got sent a beautiful dress and was just too wowed to not wear it? (Relateable at least!) Or is she perhaps just a bit self-involved?
I’m genuinely curious! Any ideas?
Good point. She’s a shameless famewhore that’s why. She’s back-tracked and covered up and lied and gaslit everyone she can to try to cover up this stinking mess, but she’s failed.
Directors talk about film-making: art direction, lighting, how they acquired the film rights, adaptation, their motivation for telling the story, decisions about the composition of shots. I LOVE hearing about the storytelling / filming process, when it’s done well.
Narcissists talk about themselves.
Bingo!!
Not even kidding, every single time I hear or read anything this woman says, I *immediately* think of the South Park episode where Kyle’s dad gets a hybrid car, becomes all sanctimonious, and moves the whole family to San Francisco— and all the adults there are wildly in love with smelling their own farts.
That’s Olivia. Constantly running her mouth, throwing herself in front of everyone else, and dining on her own farts.
This is brilliant! I think Olivia is more of a Randy Marsh, but she’s definitely Gerald in this scenario. Now, whenever OW’s name comes up I’ll be thinking “Smug Alert!”
I really don’t understand the thought process of someone who goes on the record with a complete lie. Surely Shia was always going to dispute her version of events? Is it just complete delusion and arrogance that makes someone think “yeah I’ll just spin it to make myself look awesome, what could go wrong”. It’s so bizarrely short sighted.
@Sasha, it’s Narcissism 101. Trust, you don’t understand because you aren’t one or maybe haven’t been at the mercy of or in battle with one.
I think she just assumed that he’d keep quiet and she sure didn’t think he’d keep his receipts. People who think they’re “it” never think that people will dispute their word.
Especially when you sent Shia a message talking sh#t behind Pugh’s back.
It sound like she tells everyone what they want to hear while badmouthing them behind their back. That’s no way to run your set. It’s sounds like she was way too involved with the actors when she should have kept a professional distance. But if you’re trying to snag Harry it’s hard to do that. No wonder Chris Pines looked like he wanted to be anywhere else. He unknowingly walked into a sh#t show. I’d be mad too.
After this debacle Olivia is lucky if she can direct a dog food commercial
I think she talks a really good talk that pumps everyone up (Florence and I bet all the others were super excited to work with her initially) but then reality sets in and she just. Can’t. Admit. When. She. Makes. A. Mistake.
Those are the most toxic people, the ones who think they can do no wrong. She was trying to be the next Angelina Jolie but I think neither her acting (definitely not that) nor directing career will ever be on Jolie’s level. Aside from By the Sea, you don’t ever hear anything bad about Jolie’s sets and it’s funny how she was the one with the reputation of “having no female friends” yet people like Chloe Zhao and Selma Hayek openly rave about her and praise her to the skies. OW on the other hand, loves talking about female empowerment while ignoring her self-created pink elephant in the room. Jolie’s promotion was also never THIS self-serving…OW has so much to learn, but I doubt she’s taking notes.
This interview is a whole mess.
Lmao at the celebration of harry as some great feminist because he wore an apron. Not to mention this quote:
“She tells me about watching him play a 21,000-person arena. Standing next to her was Jenny Lewis, the indie rock icon who had opened the show. “We were looking around, and she said, ‘That’s a lot of happy women,’ ” Wilde remembers, noting that, of course, there were many men in the arena too. “I instantly started crying. Where else do we see this? Happy women? Women brought together with joy, loving each other, and cheering for each other? This has been like a gift to be amongst this.”
She’s implying that the only thing that can bring women together is a man.
Second hand embarrassment!
When someone is feeding themselves some BS to justify chearing…it is cheaters handbook 101 to say something like she does “we were over long before them, darling” …:riiight….”it just happened” like there wasn’t an active decision to do xyz
The thing is is that it’s true she didn’t leave Jason for Harry. It’s all fake. It was a pr setup shomance.
Okay that mother wolf comment pushed me over the edge firmly into the anti-OW camp. Even if the “insider” take is true (doubtful since it really doesn’t seem to account for the phone call recording), gently leading the abuser to believe he left of his own accord is in no way maternal or wolfish. She clearly is an ambitious hustler (I remember the Fug Girls talking about her showing up first to red carpets in her early days.) But I’m not into when that takes a turn into self-aggrandizing narcissist (clinical or colloquial), especially when it comes at the expense of other people.
Messy is as messy does.
Olivia leaves a trail of confusion and chaos with her relationships and her work – her narrative is very much at odds with those involved with her. I am also struck the clear tension of the Don’t Worry Darling cast at Venice compared with the warmth and love of the Ted Lasso cast at awards shows. Jason Sudeikis helped create this environment. Olivia seems to have created the opposite which is telling of their respective characters.
Haven’t been following this story but she’s absolutely gorgeous, esp here. Movie looks boring and the reviews are terrible so won’t be watching. From the snippets of gossip I’ve read, I no longer have a good opinion of her as a person.
I’m looking forward to the Razzie nominations! Please let this film and its stars/director get nominated in every category!
Oh, and, her saying, “Haven’t these kids been through enough?”. If she truly cared about that, she wouldn’t be publicly slamming her ex..
All of the press around her and DWD was very calculated by her and her PR firm. Including changing the story to her being a victim of misogyny. Directors behave with some seriousness about their craft . She can’t even talk about the craft . She created the drama because as everyone has realized she’s a narcissist. What is going on in her self-important head talking about herself in the context of women in power? B**** you’ve directed 2 films, of which neither cast respects you and one of them is a critical flop. Someone please tell her to relieve us all of her presence.
Bottom line is: her movie has 42% of approval on rotten tomatoes which basically means it sucks. That’s not “the internet”, “the media” or “the narrative”. These are respected critics who watched and made consistent comments about it. It’s time to stop blaming the world and victimize yourself. A movie directed by a woman just won a prize in Venice, another one is being acclaimed by critics in Toronto. None of them got backlash cause they’re women. And maybe MAYBE, they chose to promote their thing the right way. If you read gossip columns you know OW was always randomly spotted (like who cares so much about this woman, her peak was literally on House 10 years ago) but that nonsense skyrocketed on the past 2 years, every week she was being papped doing basically nothing where her relationship with Harry and the movie were name-dropped on the articles. Also she got FOUR mag covers this year (vogue, vanity fair, variety and interview), besides participated heavily on a Harry interview for rolling stone. In all of these (and another pieces she did), she always talk about her personal life (not to mention several deuxmoi fake receipts always praising her lol) so she basically invited the public to talk about it/her. about the mess with the movie, with her life, her break up, her new bf. She can’t say now that it was all “tabloid gossip”. Like, love you’ve been feeding the tabloids for 2 years!! AND she saying the Shia thing was a tabloid gossip story when it came from Variety, the magazine she had JUST being on the cover of. Anyway, all she does is lying and it baffles me that everyone kinda ignores that. She really must have dirty on many people. Not really surprised since there’s rumors of her being bff with Weinstein. Her feminism is performative and fake af.
“Oh how do you know all this?” I used to be a fan..
Who is going to want to work with her after this? No female leads after the way she treated Florence, no male lead least they end up in a PR nightmare with an elderly Botox Barbie or thrown under the bus in the press like Shia, Shia, Shiaaaaa was? We’ve never seen a director put her own fame above a project quite like this idiot has, and in the most obvious way! She has made a joke of herself and her cast and the movie that Warner Bros put millions into. If this isn’t the last film she is entrusted too i would be bloody surprised!
Elderly? She’s 38! And even if she shaved a few years off, that’s still not that old!
I am of the opinion that the entire HOlivia romance was a PR setup that has dragged on because DWD didn’t get released in fall 2021 like it should have. It reeks of Ana De Armas/Ben Affleck/Deep Water vibes, and we’d all be better off if this movie had gotten dumped to streaming months ago, like Deep Water was.
From my experience in the last 18 months, Olivia Cockburn exhibits almost every trait of NPD. Her lying seems pathological and she habitually plays the victim. It’s ironic she always talks about feminism when she’s a woman obviously written by a man, getting what clout she has solely through the men in her life, whether real or PR. The Harry Styles relationship is obviously purely PR, with promo for Dwd specifically catered to Styles fandom, knowing that those fans are so rabid for him, they will buy a ticket despite the movie being sub-par.
There is a very good video which placing Wilde in the company of two known Hollywood predators – as in lengthy relationships/friendships… Weinstein and a white blond guy producer type whose name escapes me….. – This person paralleled OW behavior to that of Ghislane Maxwell. If this is so, even to a small degree, than Wilde should be run out of town.
Almost every actress (and ACTOR) in Hollywood has been forced to cozy up to Weinstein at some point or another. Google image any of your faves with “Weinstein” and you will almost certainly see pics in which they look super friendly (“look” being the operative word). That says less about them than it does about the industry that props up these abusive men and coerces people with much less power to make nice with them.
I know we’re all just chomping at the bit to dig more dirt on OW but let’s not delve into conspiracy theory territory (and just for the record, I’m not on some sort of pro-OW payroll. It’s totally possible to believe that OW completely bungled her job with this project and has not demonstrated an iota of self-awareness in her press tour while ALSO acknowledging there might be more nuance to the situation, and being a spoiled, arrogant artist doesn’t make her the spawn of Satan).
She has also been running lies about her future film projects as well. Her Sony/Marvel female Spiderwoman deal was never official, and the Perfect/Kerri Strug biopic was completely scrapped in the wake of Nassar and Simone Biles, yet Wilde continues to push this idea that she is booked and busy and in demand.
Meanwhile the only actual work she’s had in 18 months is selling pimple oil on Instagram. I hope Harry Styles raised her name recognition enough that she can make a living from sponsored marketing, because I don’t see any likelihood she’s getting acting or directing jobs after this.