Olivia Wilde opened up about navigating an onslaught of criticism she received for dating her now-ex Harry Styles given their 10-year age difference.
“It really did upset people. It was crazy,” Wilde, 42, recalled on the Wednesday, June 17, episode of the “Call Her Daddy” podcast. “I don’t understand how much I understand it yet.”
Wilde began dating Styles, 32, in 2021 after meeting on the set of Don’t Worry Darling — lower than one yr after the actress and her ex Jason Sudeikis, with whom she shares two kids, ended their engagement. Wilde’s connection raised eyebrows due to on-set power dynamics, their age difference and Wilde’s recent breakup. (Wilde has publicly denied any relationship overlap.)
“I do know that it has existed for a very long time in our society, like, I understand it had little or no to do with me,” Wilde admitted on Wednesday’s episode. “It’s something that we have now to women for a very long time. Why is it? I don’t know. People were f***ing pissed.”
Wilde, nevertheless, speculated that the backlash had involved fans’ “parasocial relationships” with the pop star.
“[It] is a burden that may be very weighty and never something I envy, and he carries it with grace,” Wilde said, offering rare praise of Styles without mentioning his name. “I believe that’s an unlimited responsibility that every one those stars need to carry, and it’s f***ing inconceivable. I don’t know, it’s wild, because we had the loveliest relationship, like, so sweet and so beautiful and, like, really actually very domestic and type and beautiful.”
She continued, “I believe that we existed on this little bubble and the judgment never really got into that bubble, which was a miracle [and] an actual testament to us making that occur. I believe that folks were mad. It’s almost just like the happiness made them mad.”
Wilde further recalled attending Styles’ Love on Tour concert events, where some fans would give her side-eye for dancing and having fun in the gang.
Harry Styles seemingly referenced his ex-girlfriend Olivia Wilde on his newly released album, Kiss All of the Time. Disco, Occasionally. When Styles, 32, dropped his record on Friday, March 6, fans quickly suspected a few of the lyrics on the heartfelt ballad “Paint by Numbers” might have been inspired by his relationship with Wilde, 41. Styles reflects […]
“On this country, motherhood means, ‘No more sexual being for you, young lady. That a part of you is over now,’” she stated. “There’s this puritanical basis to that which is like, ‘You are not any longer able to desire, you don’t deserve it. You may have served your purpose and now if I see you without your baby and you’re having fun with yourself as a person woman, I see that as a betrayal of this covenant.’”
Wilde and Styles ultimately went their separate ways in 2022. The previous One Direction singer has since moved on with Zoë Kravitz, to whom he’s reportedly engaged.