Don’t Worry Darling launches itself to the world at the Venice Film Festival in Italy, meaning filmmaker Olivia Wilde and her cast has no choice but to face the press.
Wilde faced a few direct questions during the press conference about the controversy involving stars Florence Pugh and Shia LaBeouf that has drawn pop culture movie fans for weeks. The director came with cast members Harry Styles, Chris Pine, and Gemma Chan when a reporter queried her about LaBeouf’s previous statements involving the production.
LaBeouf was originally part of Don’t Worry Darling, a thriller film set in the 1950s, but he exited the project later.
Wilde previously stated that he departed as the actor “was not conducive to the ethos that I demand in my productions,” according to Variety.
LaBeouf repulsed these statements that implied he was fired and offered Variety with text conversations and a clip of Wilde calling Pugh “Ms. Flo” (that has been leaked since) to show evidence he quit due to lack of rehearsal time.
Read also: Shia LaBeouf Was Not Fired from ‘Don’t Worry Darling’: He ‘Quit’
Reporters Rant on Don’t Worry Darling Press
The Hollywood Reporter’s Alex Ritman tried to ask Wilde a question about LaBeouf at the Venice press conference; however, the moderator interfered. They stated that Wilde had previously talked about the “tabloid gossip”: “It’s on the internet.”
“Well, I just tried to ask Olivia Wilde a question about Shia LaBeouf at the DON’T WORRY DARLING press conference, but the festival wouldn’t let me,” Ritman wrote on Twitter after the event.
Earlier, another reporter had asked Wilde about Pugh, who was interestingly absent for the conference although she has the leading role. But the latter appeared as planned on the Venice red carpet.
“The internet feeds itself,” Wilde said, per the Associated Press report. “I don’t need to contribute; I think it’s significantly well-nourished.”
She praised Pugh as “a force” and thanked her for arriving at Venice for the film’s promotion, although she had commitments with the sequel of Dune.
Timothée Chalamet, also involved in Dune 2, showed up in Venice for a short appearance. He arrived to support his film Bones and All with his Call Me By Your Name filmmaker Luca Guadagnino.
Wilde and her cast still have much time with the press as they take on the promotional tour for Don’t Worry Darling. But no one knows how they will or won’t talk about the reports of the drama behind the camera from now on.
