Hollywood actress-director Olivia Wilde has opened up about the personal and professional toll of the public fallout that followed her split from actor-singer Harry Styles, saying the coverage left her feeling genuinely hurt and robbed the film 'Don't Worry Darling' of the critical conversation it deserved.

What Wilde Said

Speaking on The Louis Theroux Podcast, Wilde addressed the host's observation that the film's release had been 'derailed' by what he described as 'multidimensional scandals' — including the public breakdown of her relationship with Styles, her co-star at the time, and what he characterised as a 'misogynistic dimension' to much of the coverage.

'I think it did hurt the film for sure because we didn't get to have the conversations about what the film was trying to say, which was a shame because so many people worked so hard to make that film in the depths of COVID,' Wilde said. 'We made the film for $30 million.'

She went on to credit the crew for elevating the production beyond its budget: 'It looks like a much more expensive film because of the work of people like Matty Libatique, who shot the film, Katie Byron, who production designed the film. But we never got to talk about that.'

The Personal Impact

Wilde was candid about how the internet scrutiny affected her. 'It hurt me for sure, because I was so naive up until that point about the grinder, the garbage disposal that the internet can be,' she said. She added that with time she has gained enough perspective to view the episode with some detachment — describing it as 'interesting to witness a tornado from the inside.'

A 'Healing' Return to Press

Wilde is currently promoting her new film 'The Invite', and described re-entering the press cycle as unexpectedly restorative. 'This is my first time back into the press cycle since then and I did wonder, would this feel quite traumatising? I find that the conversations around The Invite are so wonderfully interesting to me, and I've actually been allowed to have them. So, it's been actually kind of healing because I understand that it's not always a garbage disposal,' she said.

Background

Wilde and Styles dated for roughly two years before splitting around the time 'Don't Worry Darling' was released and promoted. The film's press tour in 2022 became one of Hollywood's most scrutinised publicity cycles in recent memory, with coverage of the couple's relationship and on-set tensions overshadowing the film's themes. Critics at the time noted that Wilde bore a disproportionate share of the negative press. As she returns to the spotlight with a new project, her account adds a director's perspective to a story that was largely told without her voice.