Florence Pugh Calls Out 'Horrible' Reaction To Her Rumored Breakup With Zach Braff
Florence Pugh attends the "Black Widow" premiere. (Photo: Mike Marsland via Getty Images)
Usually known for her aggressively charming “Cooking with Flo” videos, Florence Pugh’s Instagram is now where she goes to call out critics of her relationship with Zach Braff.
The “Black Widow” star, 26, and the “Scrubs” alum, 47, who started dating in 2019, have received plenty of feedback on their 21-year age gap despite repeatedly telling everyone to mind their own business.
But the conversation reared its head once again this week, when Pugh was photographed vacationing with her “Midsommar” co-star Will Poulter in Ibiza, fueling speculation that she called it quits with Braff.
“This is getting a little silly now. No, Will Poulter and I are not dating,” the “Little Women” star posted Tuesday on Instagram Stories. “We went to the beach with our friends, who are always about a half a metre away from us in every picture, but have been cleverly cut out/framed out so that it looks otherwise.”
“You can LITERALLY see my best friend in so many shots and Archie’s arms at the sides,” Pugh said in her post, before sharing uncropped photos from her vacation. “I understand that the nature of this job is that you sometimes get your privacy completely bulldozed by paparazzi, but to fabricate this stuff actually does more damage than good. Thanks for saying we look sexy.. doesn’t mean we’re doing the sexy.”
(Photo: Instagram/Florence Pugh)
The Oscar-nominee went on to highlight various other friends who were also on the beach getaway, including her “best mate” Olive, who she “actually DID snuggle with for hours on this bed.”
Pugh then appeared to address fans who were gleefully celebrating the rumors of her split with the “Garden State” star, though she didn’t explicitly say whether they were still together. Last month, she shared a sweet shoutout for Braff’s birthday.
After the photos of Pugh and Poulter made the internet rounds, many began to openly root for them as a couple at Braff’s expense.
“Florence Pugh going from this Zach Braff to Will Poulter is one of the greatest upgrades in history,” one person wrote, while another described Braff as a “fossil man.”
Florence Pugh going from this Zach Braff to Will Poulter is one of the greatest upgrades in history. pic.twitter.com/erYcrgBPoL
— PeakLotrSW (@peak_sw) May 23, 2022
love imagining zach braff's face as the internet is celebrating the chance florence pugh left him for will poulter
— liv (@thspctclrnw) May 23, 2022
hoping down to my spirit that the new florence pugh/will poulter photos mean that she has freed herself from the clutches of fossil man zach braff
— mina le (@gremlita) May 23, 2022
“There’s no need to drag people through this. Regardless of your opinion on who I should or shouldn’t be with, at the end of the day if you’re complimenting someone by trolling another person.. you’re just bullying,” Pugh wrote. “There’s literally no need to be horrible online — no need.”
“Think about what you write,” she concluded. “Think about who it affects.”
While Braff has stayed silent on the matter, Poulter echoed his one-time costar’s message, adding in his own post, “Thank you for calling out bullying when you see it.”
(Photo: Instagram/Florence Pugh)
Last year, Pugh offered a theory as to why her romance with Braff “bugs people.”
“It’s not who they expected,” she told The Sunday Times, noting that her fans presumed she might date a Timothée Chalamet type. “But it’s my life and I’m not doing anything to please people or to make it a better headline or story. I want to also be a person!”
This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.
