bitchy | Olivia Wilde & Harry Styles didn’t ‘flaunt’ their relationship during ‘DWD’

Last week, Page Six had an interesting story about why Florence Pugh doesn’t seem to be promoting or hyping Don’t Worry Darling on her social media. Page Six’s sources claimed that Pugh is pointedly not promoting the film because she didn’t care for the way DWD’s director Olivia Wilde cheated on her then-partner Jason Sudeikis with DWD actor Harry Styles. While it’s possible that Pugh does feel that way, my theory was that Pugh and Wilde perhaps didn’t get along in general, and Pugh thought Wilde’s affair with Harry Styles was pretty unprofessional in general. Even Sudeikis disputed Wilde’s timeline and narrative of their split, and reportedly, Wilde and Styles really did begin their relationship during DWD’s filming. Well, Wilde is still trying to damage control on all of this before the film heads to the Venice Film Festival. From Page Six:

Olivia Wilde is focused on the world premiere of “Don’t Worry Darling” amid rumors of tension on the set of the movie, which she directed. Multiple sources previously told Page Six that Florence Pugh — who stars in the hotly anticipated psychological drama — was unhappy after Wilde fell for the other lead, Harry Styles, during filming. But other sources have now said that Wilde and Styles did not flaunt their flourishing romance and most people on set did not know they were an item.

“Olivia was super professional — both she and Harry were. We were all surprised to hear that they were an item and didn’t even realize they were a couple until the news was out publicly,” said one set insider.

Wilde and Styles made their public debut at the wedding of Styles’ agent Jeffrey Azoff in January 2021 and are still going strong. Another source in the know added: “We were filming the movie at the height of COVID. Everyone had a job to do and we were focused on that. I certainly didn’t see Harry and Olivia all over each other!”

Despite insiders saying that Wilde’s ex, Jason Sudekis, visited the “Darling” set, the source said they did not see him, adding: “The set was strictly closed to visitors since we were at the height of Covid lockdown.”

Wilde is now looking forward to reuniting with the cast of “Don’t Worry Darling” at the Venice Film Festival, which begins Aug. 31 in Italy and continues through September 10. She will be one of the only women directors at the fest, according to sources. Wilde will join Styles, Pugh and their cast mates Gemma Chan and Chris Pine at the world premiere in September, and the film is to be released Sept. 23 in the US.

[From Page Six]

Again, the hookup rumors started up during DWD’s production, and the confirmation of Jason and Olivia’s split happened DURING the production too. It absolutely felt like Olivia quickly wanted it out there, in the fall of 2020, that she and Jason were done, after which she and Harry “began” their relationship (also during the production). Something I’ve been thinking about a lot re: Florence Pugh is that IF Pugh has some angst about DWD, I wonder if it’s more like “Olivia behaved unprofessionally on set and blatantly played favorites with her lover.” That makes much more sense to me as opposed to Pugh being angry on Sudeikis’s behalf. Anyway, DWD’s promotion is probably going to be shambolic. Here’s hoping, honestly. It’s been a while since we’ve had some promo shambles.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, promotional photos courtesy of ‘Don’t Worry Darling’.