Seven scandals that left Harry Styles’ new movie in chaos – from VERY awkward love triangle to bizarre spitting mystery
ITS shocking twists, mysterious feuds and scandalous love triangles have the whole of Hollywood talking.
Unfortunately for director Olivia Wilde, that's just the behind-the-scenes chaos that has overshadowed the tale of her new movie, Don't Worry Darling.
Starring Harry Styles, the blockbuster premiered at the Venice Film Festival last night, rocked by reports of a feud between Olivia and actress Florence Pugh, who arrived late and skipped the group interview.
Meanwhile, the former One Direction singer, 28 - now in a relationship with the director, 38 - has not only been slammed for his wooden acting, but caught up in a bizarre 'spitting' incident with actor - which sources close to both men have said is not true.
It comes after Olivia was dramatically served court papers onstage by her ex Jason Sudeikis while promoting the project, and caught apparently taking swipes at "Miss Flo" in a bombshell leaked video.
This is how her dream project, which was tipped to turn Harry into a Hollywood star, became a multi-million dollar living nightmare.
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Star's controversial departure
Things got off to a rocky start just weeks before filming began in 2020, when Transformers actor Shia LaBeouf unexpectedly dropped out of the lead role.
It led to Harry — who has enjoyed a No1 solo album and single this year — joining the cast at the last moment.
Initially, it was suggested Shia's departure was down to a scheduling conflict.
Then, Olivia claimed she sacked him to “protect” her cast from the volatile actor’s “combative energy”.
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But Shia, who has been accused by ex-girlfriend FKA Twigs of abuse, shot back, claiming he had quit.
A video leaked online showing Olivia begging him to stay appears to prove his case.
Scandalous love triangle
A month into the shoot, Olivia’s personal life was turned upside down when she broke up with comic actor Jason Sudeikis following a seven-year engagement.
Afterwards Olivia and Harry grew close and went public with their relationship when they held hands at a friend’s wedding in January 2021.
A source told the New York Post that Florence, 26, didn’t consider it to be very professional.
The insider said last month: “I can tell you for a fact that Flo seeing Olivia and Harry all over each other on set did not go down well.”
Any pretence of an amicable break-up between Olivia and Jason, 46, was blown apart when he served court papers on her while she was on stage talking about Don’t Worry Darling in April.
He wanted their children Otis, eight, and Daisy, five, to live with him in New York, but she resisted.
Olivia, who splits her time between London and Los Angeles, is determined to spend as much time with her kids as possible.
'Reductive' sex scenes row
Florence plays Alice, who with husband Jack (Harry), an employee of the mysterious Victory Project, lives a seemingly idyllic life.
While Olivia described the on-screen “extreme passion” between Harry and Florence as like in classic movie Fatal Attraction where the woman has all the “pleasure”, her lead actress sees matters very differently.
The Oscar-nominated star complained that she didn’t want her performance to be “reduced” to her romps with “the most famous pop star in the world”.
Judging from the response to the trailer, Americans don’t think the West Midlands-born star earned any credit for his US accent in the California-set movie.
But Olivia gushed about the new man in her life, saying: “He didn’t have to join our circus, but he jumped on board with humility and grace, and blew us away every day with his talent.”
Pay dispute
According to insiders, Florence was also unhappy that she was not being paid as much as newcomer Harry.
There were even claims that he had been paid up to three times as his co-star, but Olivia shut down the suggestions in an interview with Variety.
“I’m a woman who has been in this business for over 20 years, and it’s something that I have fought for myself and others, especially being a director. There is absolutely no validity to those claims,” she told the publication.
“There has been a lot out there that I largely don’t pay attention to. But the absurdity of invented clickbait and subsequent reaction regarding a nonexistent pay disparity between our lead and supporting actors really upset me."
Leaked video
After the film wrapped in February 2021, Olivia insisted she had a “no a***holes policy” and cared for her actors on set.
The interview she gave to Variety magazine suggests that policy included barring Shia.
She blasted: “A lot came to light after this happened that really troubled me, in terms of his behaviour.
“For our film, what we really needed was an energy that was incredibly supportive.
"Particularly with a movie like this, I knew I was going to be asking Florence to be in very vulnerable situations, and my priority was making her feel safe and supported.”
But Shia retorted that “it is not the truth” that he was fired.
In a leaked video Olivia had sent him after he quit, the director is driving while asking Shia to reconsider his decision to leave.
She says “I want to figure this out” and that him going was a “bit of a wake-up call for Miss Flo”.
In public, Olivia has praised Florence as the best new actress around.
Yet, the director tells Shia the movie could work if Florence “really commits, if she really puts her mind and heart into it at this point, and if you guys can make peace.”
Film fans have posted countless negative comments about Olivia’s approach on social media.
They are horrified by the suggestion that self-proclaimed feminist Olivia asked Shia to come back when his female co-star wasn’t happy working alongside him.
A Hollywood source said: “The leaked video is a horrible look for Olivia, who is mortified and furious that her private conversations have been broadcast and that she has been painted as an out and out liar.
“She is dealing with so much stress right now from all angles.
“She’s got this big fire to put out involving Shia and Florence and her custody battle with Jason is getting increasingly toxic and the bills are piling up.
“There’s a ton of pressure on her with the movie release and she’s well aware that Jason and his high-powered Hollywood allies will be willing her to fail even if they don’t publicly admit it.”
Spitting row
Appearing at the Venice Film Festival last night, Harry's performance stole the show, but not in the way he hoped.
Watching the premiere from home, viewers alleged that the pop star spat in the lap of his co-star Chris Pine.
Harry was seen sitting down in his assigned seat next to the Wonder Woman actor, before appearing to looking down at his legs and stick out his tongue towards Chris.
The actor was seen laughing back at the singer, who adjusted in his seat awkwardly after sitting down next to him, as well as looking down at his lap.
But some fans were convinced that Harry had spat in Chris' lap at the event - and took to Twitter to beg to "know the truth".
Florence friction
In a statement a representative for Chris said: "This is a ridiculous story — a complete fabrication and the result of an odd online illusion that is clearly deceiving and allows for foolish speculation.
"Just to be clear, Harry Styles did not spit on Chris Pine.
"There is nothing but respect between these two men and any suggestion otherwise is a blatant attempt to create drama that simply does not exist."
Olivia's rumoured feud with Florence also spilled out into the public arena as they failed to appear together at the premiere.
The moviemaker grimaced at the mention of Florence’s name and dodged questions about their alleged row.
Harry and his co-stars Gemma Chan and Chris remained straight faced during the toe-curling press conference.
Olivia said of Florence: “She’s amazing in the film and as for all the endless gossip and all the noise out there, the internet feeds itself.
“I don’t feel the need to contribute. I think it’s sufficiently well nourished.”
The lead actress further added to rumours of a rift when she skipped the scheduled group interview.
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Insiders insisted her filming schedule meant Florence could only attend the premiere later in the evening, but she arrived just minutes before it was due to start.
With such drama before it even hits cinemas, the film certainly has a lot to live up to.