In a new episode of Call Her Daddy, Olivia Wilde addresses the PR firestorm around Don’t Worry Darling, describing how she was publicly served custody papers while onstage at CinemaCon, revisiting backlash over her relationship with Harry Styles, and acknowled
The buzzy new phase of Olivia Wilde’s career is already in motion. Her next film, The Invite, is coming out on June 26 after a Sundance premiere that triggered a bidding war and sold for north of $12 million to A24.
But the excitement comes with a shadow—one Wilde is trying to wipe away before it turns into an awards-season script she’ll have to recite for months. On a new episode of Call Her Daddy, she confronts the mess that followed her previous movie, Don’t Worry Darling.
That press tour, she says, didn’t just spark gossip. It delivered moments that felt humiliating, destabilizing, and—at least in one instance—publicly dangerous.
The most visceral account comes when Wilde describes the moment she was publicly served custody papers while onstage at CinemaCon by her ex Jason Sudeikis. She calls it “one of the most fucked-up things” she went through during the harrowing press tour. “It was incredibly traumatizing,” Wilde says. She also explains how she got through it: “I got through it because. weirdly. as women we’re taught to muscle through the most insane experiences.”.
Wilde describes her thought process in real time. compressing the moment into one command: “I was like. Just finish your speech.” She says she went backstage and “completely dissolved into a puddle.” Then comes the part that still makes her tense—her realization that the moment wasn’t contained by the event’s rules. She says, “No one saw it because there’s no phones allowed in this event. Oh, what’s that?. It’s already up on ‘Page Six.’ There’s a video.”.
She adds that she was shaken again months later when she met Tom Cruise, who told her, “It’s fucked up what happened to you in Vegas.”
Looking back, Wilde says she still doesn’t understand how the CinemaCon incident happened. “Jason has told me that he did not know. and I have to believe that in order to continue. ” she says. She also frames the legal chaos around it in blunt terms: “Lawyers can be super fucked up and do fucked-up things. and I’m aware of that. People are never their best selves when they’re engaging in that process.”.
What she’s sure about is the core fact at the center of her anger and pain. “It was undeniable that it was a fucked-up thing, and I know he felt very bad that it happened to me.”
Wilde also revisits the relationship backlash that swelled during Don’t Worry Darling’s rollout—especially the criticism that she was dating the film’s star. Harry Styles. with some people pointing to her being older and suggesting an inappropriate power differential because she was his director. “People were fucking pissed,” Wilde says.
Her version of the relationship reads differently. “We had the loveliest relationship, so sweet and so beautiful and very domestic, kind, and lovely,” she explains. “We existed in this little bubble.”
And when the conversation lands on the tabloid machine—the anger she faced. the way stories were shaped and circulated—Wilde draws a line that’s less about policing readers and more about explaining the appetite. “The world is insane,” she says. She adds that the escapism of the tabloids is “something that is soothing for people. It’s understandable.” Later. she theorizes that “America was trying to avoid its own pain. ” using her movie’s behind-the-scenes drama as a distraction.
Between all of that. there’s still one controversy that hangs over the Don’t Worry Darling era—but it’s the one Wilde doesn’t seem ready to revisit. During the movie’s filming, original star Shia LaBeouf left production under unclear circumstances. He later leaked a video that Wilde sent him. In that video. Wilde says. “You know. I think this might be a bit of a wake-up call for Miss Flo. and I want to know if you’re open to giving this a shot with me. with us.” She continues. “If she really commits. if she really puts her mind and heart into it at this point. and if you guys can make peace.”.
Wilde notes another detail from the aftermath: at the Venice Film Festival premiere, Florence Pugh showed up to just one red carpet to promote the film. In the sweeping discussion of everything else, that LaBeouf–Pugh angle remains the missing piece.
So the question sitting under all of Wilde’s answers is simple and uncomfortable: Can she navigate Oscar season with the parts she can’t—or won’t—reframe still lingering in public memory?
Behind the scenes, her day-to-day focus is already clear. The Invite is scheduled for June 26. and the Sundance buzz has already turned into numbers big enough to bring awards talk into the room. But before those trophies enter the conversation. Wilde is trying to control the story of the last one—starting with the moment she says she was left dissolving in a backstage puddle after a public custody-paper delivery she insists she didn’t understand.
She calls it undeniable. She also says it was traumatizing. And for now, that’s the PR damage she’s working hardest to repair.
Olivia Wilde Call Her Daddy The Invite Don’t Worry Darling CinemaCon Jason Sudeikis Harry Styles Florence Pugh Shia LaBeouf Tom Cruise A24 Sundance