Florence Pugh has once again spoken out about her relationship with actor and filmmaker Zach Braff, whom she dated from 2019 to 2022, which has garnered her a lot of public attention. While age-gap relationships are not unheard of in Hollywood, the 28-year-old actress and 49-year-old Braff have faced some pretty harsh backlash over their 20-plus-year age difference.
By talking British Vogue On the intense media speculations surrounding the press tour for the 2022 psychological thriller Don't worry dearOn an alleged feud between herself and director Olivia Wilde, Pugh drew a parallel to her relationship with him Aprons While the star says she has continued to avoid questions about her alleged drama with Wilde, Pugh claims her hand was forced to defend the pair's relationship.
“I had to come out publicly because people had bullied me and my partner in the past” Midsummer the star explained, referring to Braff.
“My relationship with Zach was actually pretty special until it got ugly, and I could see the impact it had on him and on us and on our families,” Pugh continued. “And that's when I spoke up. I think for anyone I'm with, I want to protect them. It's not nice to know that people are saying the worst things I've ever read about someone I love.”
“This was necessary. I needed to talk about it. I think any relationship in that spotlight would be stressed,” she added.
Pugh hit back at haters several times during their three-year relationship. Times In 2021, she expressed shock at the backlash the couple received when she innocently celebrated Braff's 46th birthday on Instagram.
“It’s so weird for me to go on someone’s page and do shit there,” she said at the time. “It’s not in my nature—bullying for the sake of bullying. It’s such a weird thing that we’ve accepted in the last decade of social media.”
“It's not that they don't like you, I volunteer — it's because you have a boyfriend who's 20 years older than you, right? I think it bothers people that it's not what they expect,” Pugh continued. “But this is my life, and I don't do anything to please people or make it a better headline or story. And I want to be a human being!”
As for who she's currently with, Pugh admits she's currently in a relationship, but unsurprisingly remains tight-lipped about the identity of that person.
“We're actually trying to figure out what we are. And I think for the first time, I'm not allowing myself to ride a roller coaster,” she told the publication. “I'm allowing myself time to let something evolve and be completely real at its core, rather than racing toward it.”