Appearing on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Wednesday night, Olivia Wilde answered the host’s questions that we all wanted to ask.
Promoting her upcoming film that you may have heard hundreds of times already, in case you’ve managed not to it’s called Don’t Worry, Darling, Wilde’s film has received enormous attention for many reasons, including alleged feuds and controversies, and the fact that it stars music’s present poster-boy heartthrob, Harry Styles, who also began a relationship with Wilde while filming.
Wilde not only directed and produced the film but she also stars in it. However, the main star of the film is Florence Pugh, whom it was rumored had issues with Wilde. When Colbert asked Wilde about it, she simply said, “I have only respect for Florence Pugh. I have nothing against her for any reason.”
Colbert then asked her whether or not Harry Styles spit on Chris Pine, referring to a moment now referred to as “spitgate” where Harry Styles appeared to spit on Pines at the film’s premiere at the Venice Film Festival. Wilde commented, “Harry did not spit on Chris, in fact. He really didn’t. People can look at a video that shows evidence of someone NOT spitting on someone else and they’ll still see what they want to see.”
Wilde also discussed the controversy surrounding Shia LeBeouf who, after Wilde said she fired him, posted a video of Wilde trying to talk him into not quitting. About the video, Wilde explained. “There were private messages released without context to try and make a situation look like something that it wasn’t.”
This prompted Colbert to ask directly, “Did you fire Shia LeBeouf?”
Wilde answered:
“We had to replace Shia. He is a fantastic actor but it wasn’t going to work. When he gave me the ultimatum of him or Florence, I chose Florence and that was him feeling he was stepping away and me feeling like we were moving on without him.”
The director also took time to note the tremendous effort involved by everyone who worked on the film, explaining that, because of the pandemic, it took three years to make. She added, “It was a massive team effort and there were so many of us that came together and pushed through….we’re so proud of it.”
In regards to the ongoing discussions and controversy surrounding the film that Wilde referred to as a “Twitter storm,” she pointed out the irony of it all when she mentioned, “The film is about the narratives we’re fed and whether we choose to accept them.”