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 know how much I understand it yet.”
Wilde started dating Styles, 32, in 2021 after meeting on the set of Don’t Worry Darling — less than one year after the actress and her ex Jason Sudeikis, with whom she shares two kids, ended their engagement. Wilde’s connection raised eyebrows because of on-set power dynamics, their age difference and Wilde’s recent breakup. (Wilde has publicly denied any relationship overlap.)
“I know that it has existed for a long time in our society, like, I understand it had very little to do with me,” Wilde admitted on Wednesday’s episode. “It is something that we have to women for a long time. Why is it? I don’t know. People were f***ing pissed.”
Olivia Wilde and Harry Styles took fans by surprise with their whirlwind romance, which started shortly after they met on the set of Don’t Worry Darling. Wilde’s romance with Styles came two months after she split from fiancé Jason Sudeikis, with whom she shares two children: son Otis and daughter Daisy. Wilde and Styles first […]
Wilde, however, speculated that the backlash had involved fans’ “parasocial relationships” with the pop star.
“[It] is a burden that is very weighty and not something I envy, and he carries it with grace,” Wilde said, offering rare praise of Styles without mentioning his name. “I think that is an enormous responsibility that all those stars have to carry, and it’s f***ing impossible. 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 kind and lovely.”
She continued, “I think that we existed in this little bubble and the judgment never really got into that bubble, which was a miracle [and] a real testament to us making that happen. I think that people were mad. It’s almost like the happiness made them mad.”
Wilde further recalled attending Styles’ Love on Tour concerts, where some fans would give her side-eye for dancing and having fun in the crowd.
Harry Styles seemingly referenced his ex-girlfriend Olivia Wilde on his newly released album, Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally. When Styles, 32, dropped his record on Friday, March 6, fans quickly suspected some of the lyrics on the heartfelt ballad “Paint by Numbers” could have been inspired by his relationship with Wilde, 41. Styles reflects […]
“In this country, motherhood means, ‘No more sexual being for you, young lady. That part of you is over now,’” she stated. “There is this puritanical basis to that which is like, ‘You are no longer capable of desire, you don’t deserve it. You have served your purpose and now if I see you without your baby and you are enjoying yourself as an individual woman, I see that as a betrayal of this covenant.’”
Wilde and Styles ultimately went their separate ways in 2022. The former One Direction singer has since moved on with Zoë Kravitz, to whom he is reportedly engaged.