{"id":5098,"date":"2026-07-21T19:08:41","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T19:08:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5098"},"modified":"2026-07-21T19:08:41","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T19:08:41","slug":"olivia-wilde-still-hurt-by-2022-coverage-of-harry-styles-romance-and-onset-drama","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5098","title":{"rendered":"Olivia Wilde still ‘hurt’ by 2022 coverage of Harry Styles romance and onset drama"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

While promoting her well-reviewed new marital comedy, \u201cThe Invite,\u201d director and actor Olivia Wilde is reflecting on a time when she was at the center of a far more tumultuous press cycle while trying to launch an earlier movie.<\/p>\n

Read more 82-year-old Bay Area man accused of attempted murder<\/a><\/p>\n

Four years ago, her psychological thriller,\u201dDon\u2019t Worry Darling,\u201d briefly soared to the top of the office but not because of stellar reviews. In the weeks before and after the film\u2019s September 2022 release, it became a pop culture sensation due to coverage of Wilde\u2019s relationship with leading man Harry Styles, which reportedly began at the tail end of her relationship to Jason Sudeikis. The tabloid controversy also focused on the film\u2019s tumultuous production during COVID-19 lockdown and on Wilde\u2019s reported conflicts with her leading lady, Florence Pugh, and with Shia LaBeouf, the film\u2019s troubled original star.<\/p>\n

As the Daily Mail similarly reported Monday, the hotly anticipated release of \u201cDon\u2019t Worry Darling,\u201d Wilde\u2019s \u201cStepford Wives\u201d-inspired take on marriage and female agency, was overshadowed by her reported feud with Pugh, as well as by rumors of pay disputes and of how Wilde\u2019s romance with the pop singer made crew members \u201cuncomfortable.\u201d<\/p>\n

But in a new interview on \u201cThe Louis Theroux Podcast,\u201d the host allows Wilde to suggest that she was a victim of unfair, sensationalist press coverage that \u201cderailed\u201d important conversations she was trying to raise in the film, as the Daily Mail reported.\u00a0<\/p>\n

During the interview, Theroux said to Wilde: \u201cWe were talking about how when the film came out it was derailed by publicity. I mean many multidimensional scandals.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYour relationship at the time (with Styles) was breaking up,\u201d Theroux continued. \u201cYou had a well-publicized relationship with your co-star Harry Styles and, there was a kind of a misogynistic dimension to a lot of the coverage of the drama, the fallout.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilde agreed that the film was hurt by all the coverage of her two-year relationship with Styles, which lasted from 2020 to 2022, and her reported conflicts with her co-stars.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it did hurt the film for sure because we didn\u2019t 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,\u201d Wilde said.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\u201cWe made the film for $30 million,\u201d Wilde continued, praising the work of the director of photography and production designer who she said made the film, set in an idyllic, Palm Springs-style midcentury community, look \u201cmuch more expensive\u201d than it was.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we never got to talk about that, so I think it hurt the film,\u201d Wilde lamented. \u201cIt hurt me for sure, because I was so naive up until that point about the grinder, the garbage disposal that the internet can be.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018\u201dSo at this point, I have enough of a perspective on it and that allows me to experience it as a fascinating time,\u201d Wilde said with both resignation and acceptance. \u201cIt is interesting to witness a tornado from the inside.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Sausalito\u2019s new city manager charged in waterfront break-in<\/a><\/p>\n

Wilde said that the \u201cconversations\u201d around her new film, co-starring Seth Rogen, Edward Norton and Penelope Cruz, have been \u201chealing\u201d in comparison to what she dealt with during \u201cDon\u2019t Worry Darling.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\u201cWell, it\u2019s interesting because this is my first time back into the press cycle since then and I did wonder, would this feel quite traumatizing?\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Wilde also speculated recently that the backlash she received during the production and release of \u201cDon\u2019t Worry Darling\u201d had to do with the \u201cparasocial relationship\u201d that Styles fans have with him.<\/p>\n

But industry experts, including Matthew Belloni of the Puck newsletter, said that Wilde was guilty some \u201cunforced errors\u201d as a director and as a celebrity managing her personal brand.<\/p>\n

In the year leading up to the film\u2019s release, Wilde, Styles and Sudeikis were the subject of headlines about the messy end of Wilde and Sudeikis\u2019 seven-year relationship. The ex-couple\u2019s nanny, who cared for their two children, sued them in 2023, alleging that they caused her \u201cunbearable stress\u201d when Wilde abruptly moved out of their home in November 2020, while directing Styles in \u201cDon\u2019t Worry Darling.\u201d<\/p>\n

A short time later, Wilde informed the \u201cTed Lasso\u201d star that their relationship was over, according to the nanny and other media accounts. Wilde\u2019s announcement blindsided Sudeikis and left him distraught, the Daily Mail reported. It also was reported that Sudeikis suspected Wilde had begun an affair with Styles on the set of the troubled production. The nanny told the Daily Mail that Sudeikis was \u201cout of control crying,\u201d saying \u201che was going to get her back and he loved her,\u201d the Daily Mail reported.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Pugh reportedly was upset that Wilde began seeing Styles while she was still in a relationship with Sudeikis, reports said at the time. Vulture alleged that Pugh and Wilde had a \u201cblowout argument\u201d about three-quarters of the way through production because Pugh had grown \u201cfed up with the director\u2019s frequent, unexplained absences\u201d from the set, allegedly so she could spend time with Styles, as Variety said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Wilde has emphatically denied that any \u201cscreaming match\u201d with Pugh ever occurred. But she didn\u2019t help her case when she gave an interview to Variety during the film\u2019s release, explaining why she replaced LaBeouf with Styles as her leading man. She said she wanted to \u201cprotect the cast\u201d from the controversial actor\u2019s \u201ccombative energy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilde\u2019s remarks about LaBeouf prompted the often unpredictable actor to defend himself in a way that prompted more viral headlines. He infamously shared a video online, which showed Wilde begging the actor to return to the project and patronizingly referring to Pugh as \u201cMiss Flo.\u201d Wilde suggested to LaBeouf that Pugh may be the one in need of an attitude adjustment by saying this \u201cmight be a bit of a wake-up call for Miss Flo.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018Godzilla vs. Kong\u2019 actress Kaylee Hottle, 18, dies after car crash<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As Wilde promotes her new movie, ‘The Invite,’ the director has apparently been trying to revise the history around her previous project, the famously troubled ‘Don’t Worry Darling’ <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5097,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5098","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-things-to-do"],"yoast_head":"\nOlivia Wilde still ‘hurt’ by 2022 coverage of Harry Styles romance and onset drama - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5098\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Olivia Wilde still ‘hurt’ by 2022 coverage of Harry Styles romance and onset drama - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As Wilde promotes her new movie, 'The Invite,' the director has apparently been trying to revise the history around her previous project, the famously troubled 'Don't Worry Darling'\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5098\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-21T19:08:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5098#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5098\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"headline\":\"Olivia Wilde still ‘hurt’ by 2022 coverage of Harry Styles romance and onset drama\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-21T19:08:41+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5098\"},\"wordCount\":1029,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5098#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/60791208de81d6f48a40ffe6cf02ce28.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Things To Do\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5098#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5098\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5098\",\"name\":\"Olivia Wilde still ‘hurt’ by 2022 coverage of Harry Styles romance and onset drama - Next City Digest\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5098#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5098#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/60791208de81d6f48a40ffe6cf02ce28.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-21T19:08:41+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5098#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5098\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5098#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/60791208de81d6f48a40ffe6cf02ce28.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/60791208de81d6f48a40ffe6cf02ce28.webp\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":683},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5098#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Olivia Wilde still ‘hurt’ by 2022 coverage of Harry Styles romance and onset drama\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Next City Digest\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Olivia Wilde still ‘hurt’ by 2022 coverage of Harry Styles romance and onset drama - Next City Digest","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5098","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Olivia Wilde still ‘hurt’ by 2022 coverage of Harry Styles romance and onset drama - Next City Digest","og_description":"As Wilde promotes her new movie, 'The Invite,' the director has apparently been trying to revise the history around her previous project, the famously troubled 'Don't Worry Darling'","og_url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5098","og_site_name":"Next City Digest","article_published_time":"2026-07-21T19:08:41+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5098#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5098"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b"},"headline":"Olivia Wilde still ‘hurt’ by 2022 coverage of Harry Styles romance and onset drama","datePublished":"2026-07-21T19:08:41+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5098"},"wordCount":1029,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5098#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/60791208de81d6f48a40ffe6cf02ce28.webp","articleSection":["Things To Do"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5098#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5098","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5098","name":"Olivia Wilde still ‘hurt’ by 2022 coverage of Harry Styles romance and onset drama - Next City Digest","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5098#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5098#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/60791208de81d6f48a40ffe6cf02ce28.webp","datePublished":"2026-07-21T19:08:41+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5098#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5098"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5098#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/60791208de81d6f48a40ffe6cf02ce28.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/60791208de81d6f48a40ffe6cf02ce28.webp","width":1024,"height":683},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5098#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Olivia Wilde still ‘hurt’ by 2022 coverage of Harry Styles romance and onset drama"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/","name":"Next City Digest","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/nextcitydigest.com"],"url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5098","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5098"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5098\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5098"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5098"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5098"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}