What you need to know
Florence Pugh still has no regrets about standing up for ex Zach Braff when online commenters criticized the former couple’s 21-year age difference.
Pugh, 29, appeared on the Louis Theroux Podcast on Nov. 10 to talk about her relationship with Braff, 50, and how they overcame the dispute over their age difference. When asked if he talks about his romantic relationship in the press, Pugh replied, “I don’t talk about it anymore.”
“People don’t care how much you talk or how much you don’t talk about relationships and romance in this world. They want stories,” Pugh said. “It’s like they want a reality show. So it doesn’t really matter how much you say you love someone or how happy they make you. If they don’t like that person or it doesn’t fit the image they want of you, they don’t care.”
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The Don’t Worry Darling actress dated Braff from 2019 to 2022, but Pugh confirmed to Harper’s Bazaar that the couple had broken up. Pugh said she was fed up with “an incredible amount of abuse directed at my relationship just because of our age difference” after the couple’s existence was made public.
“I will always protect my loved ones and stand up for them,” she said. “If I need a reset and a tap on the wrist, I’ll do it because it’s not fair to spend so much of your life getting a jab.”
Pugh responded to the criticism in a 2020 Instagram video in which she accused Instagram commenters of “bullying” Braff after she posted a photo celebrating her birthday.
“Within about eight minutes of the photo being posted, about 70% of the comments were hurling expletives and nasty things. It’s basically bullying someone on my page,” Pugh said. “This is the first time in my Instagram life that I’ve had to turn off comments on my page. I’ve never been an Instagram page that encourages that. I’ve never been an Instagram page that likes that toxic vibe.”
Pugh, who spoke to Theroux, said she posted the video because she felt she needed to “check in” on her followers and remind them that she and Braff are real people.
“It got to the point where it was really scary to see the person I was with receiving it, and it was never to me, just to him,” she said. “And I think we just needed to kind of check in with everyone, so we made a video and it got a lot of love and a lot of people pitched in and it was great. I think we need to remind people online that we’re real.”
Later that year, Braff reflected on his reaction to Pugh’s video in an interview. “She literally sat down and recorded it on her cell phone and said that,” Ms. Braff told Mr. Porter. “I thought, ‘How can I follow something so intelligent and clear?’ So I decided not to.”
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Although Braff and Pugh quietly separated in 2022, the couple remained amicable. In a joint interview with Vogue in 2023 to promote the film The Good Person, Braff raved about Pugh’s acting abilities.
“I simply think she’s one of the greatest actors of her generation,” the Garden State actor and director said. “She’s just stunning. You can’t take your eyes off her.”
