Don’t Worry Darling crew deny ‘absurd’ reports of ‘screaming match’ between Olivia Wilde and Florence Pugh
Olivia Wilde and Florence Pugh did not have a “screaming match” on the set of Don’t Worry Darling, according to the film’s crew.
The psychological thriller, which was released on Friday (23 September), has been plagued with reports of behind-the-scenes drama, in particularly regarding an alleged feud between director Wilde and star Pugh.
A recent report by Vulture, citing an anonymous source who spent a significant amount of time on set, alleged that the pair even once got into a verbal altercation on set.
According to the source, news of the hostility got back to studio executives, with Warner Bros’s Toby Emmerich forced to step in as a referee of a “long negotiation process” to guarantee Pugh’s participation in the film “in any way”.
In a statement shared with The Independent, Warner Bros co-chairpersons and CEOs Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy said: “The studio is very grateful and appreciative of the tireless support by Olivia in bringing her vision to life from production through release.
“Any suggestion of conflict between the studio and Olivia is simply not true.”
On Saturday (24 September), a group of 40 crew members who worked on the production issued a statement also denying the report.
The team wrote that “allegations about unprofessional behaviour on the set of Don’t Worry Darling are completely false”, calling Wilde “an incredible leader and director who was present and involved with every aspect of production” (via People).
“As a crew, we’ve avoided addressing the absurd gossip surrounding the movie we’re so proud of, but feel the need to correct the anonymous ‘sources’ quoted in a recent article,” they wrote.
Among the group to sign the letter are writer and producer Katie Silberman, cinematographer Matthew Libatique and costume designer Arianne Phillips.
It comes as Pugh shared a photo set to Instagram of the cast and crew of Don’t Worry Darling, including Wilde.
Captioning the post, the actor wrote that she would “always be grateful” for her time on the film.
