The Don't Worry Darling Drama, Explained

We are worried, darling. For months, there have been been rumors of drama between Olivia Wilde, director of Don't Worry Darling, and the film's lead actress Florence Pugh. That speculation was seemingly confirmed with new revelations from Shia LaBeouf, who was originally attached to star opposite Pugh in the project.

There's also controversy surrounding Wilde's relationship with pop star Harry Styles, who replaced LaBeouf in the lead role, and how the director was served custody papers from her ex-husband Jason Sudeikis while promoting Don't Worry Darling.

At the Venice Film Festival premiere of the film, the drama seemed to ratchet up a scale—with speculation over Pugh not interacting with Wilde or Styles, and a viral video that alleges Styles spits on Chris Pine.

Here's everything you need to know about what's going down between Wilde and Pugh—and why all eyes are on the press tour for Don't Worry Darling.

Why isn't Florence Pugh promoting the film?

The first inklings of drama emerged when fans noticed that Pugh was barely promoting Don't Worry Darling on her social media pages—and she has been an active poster about previous projects she's been involved with (apart from this film). As one fan tweeted in July, "The way Florence Pugh has yet to post about don’t worry darling even though there are two trailers out for it and yet she’ll post about every single other project that she’s doing right now like what did Olivia Wilde do ????"

Pugh eventually posted a quick teaser in August, writing in the caption "Not long now!
Only in theatres September 23rd"

Page Six reported that Pugh was upset about Wilde and Styles's relationship. Pugh was also reportedly uncomfortable by LaBeouf in early days of production.

Pugh and Wilde, too, have disagreed about the promotion of the film. In a Vogue story from earlier this year, Wilde said she wants the Don't Worry Darling audience to "realize how rarely they see female hunger, and specifically this type of female pleasure." In a Variety profile, she said, "Men don’t come in this film. Only women here!"

However, Pugh, in a Harper's Bazaar story, said that the movie is more than its sex scenes. "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," Pugh says. "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."

The Shia LaBeouf "firing" controversy, explained.

In a cover profile for Variety, Olivia Wilde said she fired Shia LaBeouf. "I say this as someone who is such an admirer of his work. His process was not conducive to the ethos that I demand in my productions,” Wilde said. "He has a process that, in some ways, seems to require a combative energy, and I don’t personally believe that is conducive to the best performances. I believe that creating a safe, trusting environment is the best way to get people to do their best work. Ultimately, my responsibility is to the production and to the cast to protect them. That was my job."

Soon after that story came out, LaBeouf, however, claimed that is not what went down—instead, he shared that he had quit. “Firing me never took place, Olivia,” LaBeouf wrote in an email which he shared with Variety. “And while I fully understand the attractiveness of pushing that story because of the current social landscape, the social currency that brings. It is not the truth.”

In a video LaBeouf shared with Variety and other publications, Wilde is driving as she records a message for the actor in August 2020.

"I feel like I’m not ready to give up on this yet, and I too am heartbroken and I want to figure this out,” she says in the video. “You know, I think this might be a bit of a wake-up call for Miss Flo, and I want to know if you’re open to giving this a shot with me, with us. If she really commits, if she really puts her mind and heart into it at this point, and if you guys can make peace—and I respect your point of view, I respect hers—but if you guys can do it, what do you think? Is there hope? Will you let me know?"

In December 2020, LaBeouf's ex-girlfriend, FKA Twigs, sued him for sexual battery, assault, and infliction of emotional distress. LaBeouf denies the allegations, but told the New York Times, in part, “I have been abusive to myself and everyone around me for years. I have a history of hurting the people closest to me. I’m ashamed of that history and am sorry to those I hurt. There is nothing else I can really say.”

"Once it became clear that it was not a tenable working relationship, I was given an ultimatum," Wilde told Stephen Colbert in mid-September. "I chose my actress, which I’m very happy I did. At the time, was I bummed that we weren’t able to make it work? Sure. Did information about him come to light later that made me confident we made the right decision? Absolutely."

TL;DR: Pugh was likely uncomfortable working with LaBeouf. Wilde said she fired LaBeouf because he made Pugh uncomfortable, but LaBeouf says he quit, and shared that Wilde told him that if he stayed it will be a "wake-up call for Miss Flo."

Where does Harry Styles fit in to all this?

Styles is currently performing in "Love on Tour," and he has not commented on anything. He and Olivia Wilde have been linked romantically since filming Don't Worry Darling.

In a profile in Rolling Stone, Styles shared, "I’ve never talked about my life away from work publicly and found that it’s benefited me positively." He added, "I don’t think I’ve publicly been with anyone. If someone takes a picture of you with someone, it doesn’t mean you’re choosing to have a public relationship or something."

Why is Jason Sudeikis involved?

Olivia Wilde and Jason Sudeikis quietly split in fall 2020, ending their seven-year engagement. In 2021, Sudeikis shared with GQ he still didn't really understand why they split. "I'll have a better understanding of why in a year, and an even better one in two, and an even greater one in five, and it'll go from being, you know, a book of my life to becoming a chapter to a paragraph to a line to a word to a doodle," he said.

In April 2022, while Wilde was promoting Don't Worry Darling at CinemaCon, she was served custody papers concerning their children Otis and Daisy. At the time, a representative for Sudeikis said that he "had no prior knowledge of the time or place that the envelope would have been delivered as this would solely be up to the process service company involved and he would never condone her being served in such an inappropriate manner."

What happened at the Venice Film Festival?

Pugh attended the Venice Film Festival premiere, and that will likely be the only press she does for the movie—she is reportedly busy filming Dune: Part Two in Hungary. However, Pugh skipped the press conference, arriving in Venice around the same time in a chic purple Valentino set (above).

During the press conference, Wilde said, "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." The moderator shut down any questions about Shia LaBeouf.

At the red carpet, things got even more awkward; Pugh and Wilde did not interact at all, nor did Pugh and Styles. Pugh's stylist, Rebecca Corbin-Murray, hinted at the drama, writing in her caption of Pugh's stunning red carpet look "Miss Flo"—referencing the now-viral video Wilde recorded for LaBeouf.

In the screening, things continued to be tense. As one Twitter user joked, "whoever made this seating arrangement has planned a wedding with divorced parents." At the standing ovation following the premiere of Don't Worry Darling, Pugh only looked at Nick Kroll (who also appears in the film) and seemed to ask him when she could exit. Again, she did not appear to engage with Wilde or Styles in any capacity.

What is #SpitGate?

There was more drama, too, from Venice: In one viral video, internet users speculate Styles spits on Chris Pine as he arrives to his seat. (Yes, really.) Pine is seated in between Styles and Wilde, and based on his interactions with Pugh on the red carpet, he seems to be on Pugh's side in this mess. As the Hollywood Reporter writes, "The reaction from Pine certainly suggests he did. In any case, the footage has arguably become the biggest Twitter talking point from the premiere, generating millions of views."

"This is a ridiculous story — a complete fabrication and the result of an odd online illusion that is clearly deceiving and allows for foolish speculation," Pine’s rep said in a statement to Variety. "Just to be clear, Harry Styles did not spit on Chris Pine. There is nothing but respect between these two men and any suggestion otherwise is a blatant attempt to create drama that simply does not exist."

A few days later, Styles jokingly addressed "spit-gate" during a concert. "This is our 10th show at Madison Square Garden," he said. "It is wonderful, wonderful, wonderful to be back in New York. I just popped very quickly to Venice to spit on Chris Pine. But fret not, we’re back!"

A few weeks later Stephen Colbert's late night show a few days before the premiere, Wilde, too, addressed spit-gate. She said, "No, he did not. But I think it’s a perfect example of, like, people will look for drama anywhere they can. Harry did not spit on Chris, in fact."

And what happened with Kiki Layne and Ari'el Stachel?

Actress Kiki Layne took to Instagram after the movie premiered to share that most of the scenes she filmed were cut, but she doesn't mind—she met her now boyfriend, Ari'el Stachel (you may know him from A Band's Visit on Broadway), on set.

"The best thing about #DontWorryDarling is that I was lucky enough to meet @arielstachel. They cut us from most of the movie, but we thriving in real life. 🙂🙂" Layne wrote, adding, "Love you Ari ❤️❤️❤️❤️" She also hashtagged #GotMyCheck #GotMyMan #EverythingHappensforaReason.

Stachel commented, "My love. You are a queen and your talent shines so bright. I was thirsty then and I’m thirsty now" with three red heart emojis. Later, he took to his own Instagram to share another snap of them behind the scenes, writing, "My favorite part of my experience in Don’t Worry Darling. This woman did phenomenal work and I was thirsty the second I met her."

On TikTok, he also posted a video of himself dancing in front of tweets about how he was a "glorified extra":

Layne and Stachel don't seem too upset, but it's just one more layer of drama for Don't Worry Darling.

Don't Worry Darling premiered on September 23, 2022. Here's how to watch the film.

You Might Also Like

• 12 Weekend Getaway Spas For Every Type of Occasion

• The Best Alcohol Subscription Boxes That Deliver Drinks to Your Door

• Beauty Gurus Share Their Makeup Secrets for Older Women