Rarely has the start of a film experienced such a press hype as “Don’t Worry Darling”. Starting with the headline that director Olivia Wilde (38) and leading actor Harry Styles (28) became a couple to Styles’ alleged spitting attack on fellow actor Chris Pine (42). In the past few weeks, the rumors have overshadowed the actual psychological thriller, which will be released in cinemas on September 22nd. The most important headlines about “Don’t Worry Darling” at a glance…
The film first attracted attention in September 2020. After Chris Pine, Florence Pugh (26) and Shia LaBeouf (36) were announced as part of the cast, there was a surprising change. Harry Styles took over the male lead in place of LaBeouf. The US industry journal “Deadline” justified this with a scheduling conflict.
A few weeks later, negative headlines about LaBeouf dominated the media. After being charged with assault and theft in October, ex-girlfriend FKA Twigs, 34, and singer Sia, 46, made allegations of sexual abuse against the 36-year-old in December. Was there a connection between his exit from “Don’t Worry Darling” and the subsequent headlines?
In August 2022, Wilde said in multiple interviews that she fired LaBeouf at the request of lead actress Pugh. She felt “uncomfortable with LaBeouf’s behavior,” whereupon Wilde took action. The actor’s “belligerent energy” made a collaboration impossible.
Again, LaBeouf disagreed. He left the film “due to lack of time for rehearsals,” he reported to “Variety”. He added an email exchange between Wilde and himself to his statements, as well as a video of the 38-year-old. In this, she apparently tries to dissuade the actor from leaving. She says she’s not ready to “give it up just yet.” His departure may be “a wake-up call for Miss Flo [Florence Pugh, editor’s note],” the director also explained.
Wilde’s comment about Pugh, in turn, caused an uproar on social media. Rumors of a feud between the two women soon began to circulate. From production circles of the film it was said that the actresses had fallen out. The reason is Wilde’s relationship with Styles. Accordingly, she gave him full attention as a director. Perceptive users on TikTok also noted that Pugh barely promoted “Don’t Worry Darling” on social media. The 26-year-old didn’t comment on posts from Oliva Wilde, in which she raved about how great the women’s collaboration was.
Two interviews with the actresses finally fueled the rumors of a dispute. In December 2021, Wilde spoke to Vogue about a scene in which Styles and Pugh’s characters have oral sex. The director emphasized that one rarely sees “female hunger, and especially this kind of female lust” in the cinema. Florence Pugh spoke to “Haarper’s Bazaar” against the reduction of the film and her acting performance to sex scenes: “When it is reduced to your sex scenes, or to watching the most famous man in the world, how he satisfies someone orally , that’s not why we’re doing it. That’s not why I work in this industry.” The film and the people who made it are “bigger and better than that”. A dig at Wilde?
In November, the separation of Olivia Wilde and her fiancé Jason Sudeikis (47) became known. Photos of her and Harry Styles holding hands at a wedding surfaced back in January. In the weeks that followed, more turtle pictures and numerous rumors about the liaison followed. According to this, the actress and the singer were already dating when Wilde and Sudeikis were still a couple. The age difference of ten years also caused a lot of discussion in the media.
In April 2022, the relationship and separation drama culminated in an unusual scene at the CinemaCon in Las Vegas. When Olivia Wilde spoke on stage about “Don’t Worry Darling,” she was handed an envelope that said “personal and confidential.” It was apparently a custody application from Ex Sudeikis. The actress first commented on the incident in August. “Clearly, Jason’s actions were designed to threaten and take me by surprise,” Wilde quoted the Mail Online as saying from court documents.
Shortly before the film premiere in September, another negative headline made the rounds. This time, rumor has it that Pugh was paid a fraction of her co-star Styles’ fee as the lead actress. Pugh received $700,000 while Styles received $2.5 million. Speaking to Variety, Wilde contradicted the alleged salary difference between the cast a few days later.
The drama surrounding the film reached its climax when it premiered at the Venice Film Festival in early September. The fact that Harry Styles and Olivia Wilde traveled to the premiere in separate boats was a topic of conversation. Florence Pugh, on the other hand, did not appear as the main actress at the press conference, but only joined the cast on the red carpet.
However, Styles and Chris Pine caused the greatest excitement. After the screening, a clip of the two main actors caused an uproar on social media. There you can allegedly see how Styles spits in the seated Pine’s lap when entering the room. A spokesman for Pines said in a statement that it was “a ridiculous story.” The rumor is “a complete fabrication and the result of a strange online illusion that is clearly deceptive and allows for silly speculation.” Styles joked at a concert in New York a few days later: “I had to spit on Chris Pine shortly after Venice.”
Neither Chris Pine nor Florence Pugh showed up for the premiere in New York on September 19. Official reason: The two were prevented due to filming.
