The “Invite” director explained that the backlash had a lot to do with the “parasocial relationship” people have with the “Aperture” singer.

Olivia Wilde breaks silence on backlash to Harry Styles romance: ‘People were f---ing pissed’

The "Invite" director explained that the backlash had a lot to do with the "parasocial relationship" people have with the "Aperture" singer.

By Emlyn Travis

Emlyn Travis

Emlyn Travis is a news writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2022. Her work has previously appeared on MTV News, Teen Vogue, and NME.

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June 17, 2026 10:58 a.m. ET

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Olivia Wilde; Harry Styles. Credit: Rachel Murray/Getty; Dia Dipasupil/Getty

- Olivia Wilde is reflecting on the backlash she faced for dating Harry Styles.

- The director, 42, and singer, 32, met on the set of her film* Don't Worry Darling *and dated for almost two years.

- "People were f---ing pissed," she said.

Olivia Wilde is reflecting on the backlash that she received during her romance with Harry Styles.

During a recent visit to the *Call Her Daddy* podcast, the 42-year-old *Booksmart* director was asked to identify what it was about her two-year relationship with the 32-year-old “Aperture” singer that upset so many people at the time.

“Men, who are in positions of power, date younger women all the time, and everyone’s like… And? There’s no question,” host Alex Cooper said. “What do you think was so triggering to people seeing you dating a man that they deemed you the position of power and the older woman?”

Harry Styles; Olivia Wilde. Cindy Ord/Getty Images; Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images

Wilde met and began dating Styles while on the set of her 2022 film *Don’t Worry Darling*, in which he played the leading man opposite Florence Pugh. Their highly publicized romance ultimately ended with the couple going their separate ways in November 2022.

“It was crazy. I don’t know how much I understand it yet,” Wilde confessed. “That’s one of the factors that I never really felt like I fully… I don’t know. I know that it has existed for a long time in our society. I understand it had very little to do with me.”

She continued, “It is something that… We’ve done this to women for a long time. Why is it? I don’t know. People were f---ing pissed.”

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Wilde also noted that she believed a lot of the ire directed toward them stemmed from the "parasocial relationship” that people have with Styles.

“Which is a burden that is very weighty, and not something I envy, and he carries it with grace,” she added. “I think that is an enormous responsibility that all those stars have to carry, and it’s f---ing impossible.”

She explained that the negativity was surprising because the pair “had the loveliest relationship” together in actuality.

“So sweet and so beautiful and really actually very domestic and kind and lovely,” she says. “And, like, I think that we existed in this little bubble and the judgment never really got into that bubble, which was a miracle and a real testament to us making that happen.”

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But, she admitted, their joy may have also played a factor in the fury, too.

“It’s almost like the happiness made them mad,” Wilde said. “I would go to his shows and dance, and people were like, ‘Oh! How could she? … How dare you dance and smile?’”

The *Invite* director also pointed out that her ex, Jason Sudeikis, 50, was dating someone with a bigger age gap at the time. Sudeikis was previously romantically linked to actress Keeley Hazell, 39, in 2021.

“It doesn’t matter,” Cooper replied. “I think there is an expectation, especially as a mother, that when you go through that public separation with the kids involved, you are supposed to be self-sacrificing and you need to be sexless.”

Wilde added, "You move to a convent."

In the years since their split, Wilde has begun dating art dealer Caspar Jopling. Styles, meanwhile, recently got engaged to his partner, Zoë Kravitz.

Watch Wilde discuss her relationship with Styles in the clip above.

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