Olivia Wilde won’t be “easily manipulated,” thank you very much.
On Monday, hours after slamming “scurrilous” claims from her kids’ nanny abouther relationship with Harry Styles and split from Jason Sudeikis, Wilde tookthe stage at the Elle Women in Hollywood event, at which she was an honoree,and talked about “fighting through the hellfire” of Hollywood sexism, whichshe said fueled the Don ‘t Worry Darling drama .
Olivia Wilde talked about “fighting through the hellfire” or Hollywood sexism.(Photo: Amy Sussman/Getty Images for ELLE)
“These opportunities like tonight, to gather as women, are crucial,” Wildetold the crowd at Getty Center in Los Angeles. “They’re extremely impactful.They offer us a chance to look into each other’s eyes and say, ‘Keep going.’In fact, sometimes it’s tempting to excuse ourselves from the burning hellfireof the misogyny that defines this business and say, ‘Good night, good luck,I’d rather eat glass for a living.’ But we won’t let each other give up.”
Wilde, who directed and starred in dwd, which was plagued with rumors andgossip but opened at No. 1, said she recently had “several opportunities topersonally experience this power of encouragement from other women in thisbusiness. It often takes the form of a tight grip of your shoulders and anintense stare into your eyes and a defiant ‘Don’t let them f*** with you.’ Andit’s always really tempting to reply, ‘Well, if I didn’t know things were badbefore, I do now.’ Just kidding; it’s always very much appreciated.”
Olivia Wilde attends the 29th Annual ELLE Women in Hollywood Celebration atthe Getty Center in Los Angeles. (Photo: REUTERS/Aude Guerrucci)
She called those moments “profound” because they’re an “honest acknowledgmentof a constant battle we are all fighting, in which we are allies.” And “nomatter how much the patriarchy relies on us to cut each other down in order toweaken our collective power, we have to resist the urge to play by their self-serving rules. Remind the world — and specifically our daughters — that wearen’t so easily manipulated.”
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Wilde jokingly questioned if she would have still pursued her career in thebusiness 20 years ago had she known “Twitter would be invented.” However, shesaid she has “undeniably the greatest job on the planet.” She said the eventmade her feel “energized” and “motivated to keep fighting through thehellfire. In some ways, the challenges are all a part of it, right? Realbadges of honor, par for the course. Let’s face it: You are not a woman inHollywood until you’ve begged to be placed into a medically induced coma untilyour press tour is finished.”
Just before the event, Wilde and Sudeikis, who share children Otis, 8, andDaisy, 6, issued a rare joint statement slamming “false” claims in aninterview their former nanny gave the Daily Mail.
“As parents, it is incredibly upsetting to learn that a former nanny of ourtwo young children would choose to make up such false and scurrilousaccusations about us publicly,” the former couple — who hadn’t been onspeaking terms since their split and custody battle — said. “This is theunfortunate apex of a now, 18-month-long campaign of harassing us, as well asour loved ones, close friends and colleagues. We will continue to focus onraising and protecting our children with the sincere hope that she will nowchoose to leave our family alone.”
One of their former nannies, whose name was not revealed, claimed that the_Ted Lasso_ actor “was out of control crying” after finding messages onWilde’s Apple Watch in November 2020 revealing that Wilde was having an affairwith Styles, whom she cast in Don ‘t Worry Darling. The employee claimedSudeikis “went outside and lay under [Wilde’s] car so she wouldn’t leave.” Theperson also said Sudeikis was upset after seeing Wilde prepare a salad forStyles with her “special dressing” in the family’s kitchen. The nanny claimedSudeikis banned them from playing any of Styles’s music after the split .
Wilde and Sudeikis began dating in 2011, were engaged for several years, andthen it was reported that they split in November 2020. However, Wilde said inSeptember that it’s a “complete horseshit” that she “left Jason for Harry….Our relationship was over long before I with Harry. Like any relationship thatends, it doesn’t end overnight… We officially dissolved the relationshiptowards the beginning of the pandemic. through that time. Once it became clearthat cohabitating was no longer beneficial for the children, it became theresponsible thing to nah, because we could be better parents as friends wholive in different houses.”
Wilde went public with the ““Watermelon Sugar” singer in early 2021. Thingswith Sudeikis have been contentious, including when he served Wilde legalpapers when she was in the middle of giving a presentation about _Don ‘t WorryDarling _at CinemaCon in April.