Florence Pugh dated Zach Braff for years. They started up when she was 21-22 years old and he was in his 40s. The age difference bugged a lot of people, and the comments from people bugged Florence. She spent several years complaining about “reading mean comments about her relationship.” I never understood that – if she was confident in her relationship and she was happy with Braff, what would other people’s opinions matter? Just f–k your old man and enjoy yourself. Obviously, there were cracks in their relationship and she wasn’t so eager to discuss all of that. Several months ago, she went on vacation with Will Poulter and some friends and Braff was nowhere to be found. As it turns out, Florence and Zach have been done for a while. She spoke about their split in her Harper’s Bazaar cover story (she’s promoting Don’t Worry Darling). Some highlights from Bazaar:
Her career throughline: “I guess all of my movies have that element of women being forced into a corner, forced into an opinion, forced into a way of life. And then finally, something cracks.”
On the ‘Don’t Worry Darling’ trailer drop: “When it’s reduced to your sex scenes, or to watch the most famous man in the world go down on someone, it’s not why we do it. It’s not why I’m in this industry. Obviously, the nature of hiring the most famous pop star in the world, you’re going to have conversations like that. That’s just not what I’m going to be discussing because [this movie is] bigger and better than that. And the people who made it are bigger and better than that.”
Spending the pandemic lockdown in LA, she was itching to travel: “Part of the reason we all do this is because we run away with the circus. I think that one of the pulls for me is that I get to see places, see people, befriend people, fall in love with people, and then move on and do it again.”
The age gap between Pugh & Braff: When Pugh and actor-director Zach Braff began dating in 2019, much was made of their 21-year age gap. It was an experience that Pugh found cruel and invasive. “Whenever I feel like that line has been crossed in my life, whether it’s paparazzi taking private moments, or moments that aren’t even real, or gossip channels that encourage members of the public to share private moments of famous people walking down the street, I think it’s incredibly wrong. I don’t think that people, just because they have this job, that every aspect of their life should be watched and written about. We haven’t signed up for a reality TV show.”
They broke up: Pugh and Braff quietly ended their relationship earlier this year. “We’ve been trying to do this separation without the world knowing, because it’s been a relationship that everybody has an opinion on. We just felt something like this would really do us the benefit of not having millions of people telling us how happy they are that we’re not together. So we’ve done that. I automatically get a lumpy throat when I talk about it.”
This is a really strange breakup announcement, right? It’s basically: we didn’t want anyone to know that we broke up because we knew people would be really happy about it? And even post-split, she’s still so upset about (pretty f–king mild) criticism of her relationship. It’s almost as if it never occurred to her that she could simply own her sh-t and shrug off people’s opinions, turn off her IG comments and not search her name on Twitter. I’m lowkey dying to know why they broke up too. I suspect that either Florence got too old for Braff OR she was just way too focused on what other people were saying about her.
Also: I’m more convinced than ever that there’s some drama between Florence and Olivia Wilde. Pugh didn’t even say Olivia’s name (or Harry Styles’ name) in the interview and there are no quotes from Olivia or Harry.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, cover courtesy of Bazaar.
MANHATTAN, NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, USA – DECEMBER 05: Actress Florence Pugh wearing an outfit by Valentino arrives at the World Premiere of Netflix’s ‘Don’t Look Up’ held at Jazz at Lincoln Center on December 5, 2021 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States.,Image: 646557086, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Florence Pugh, Credit line: Jordan Hinton / Image Press Agency / Avalon 
MANHATTAN, NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, USA – DECEMBER 05: Actress Florence Pugh wearing an outfit by Valentino arrives at the World Premiere of Netflix’s ‘Don’t Look Up’ held at Jazz at Lincoln Center on December 5, 2021 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States.,Image: 646557132, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Florence Pugh, Credit line: Jordan Hinton / Image Press Agency / Avalon 
Florence Pugh attends attends the Tiffany & Co. “Vision & Virtuosity” Brand Exhibition Opening Gala at Saatchi Gallery on June 09, 2022 in London,Image: 698526980, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Anamaria Wiggins / Avalon
Florence Pugh attends attends the Tiffany & Co. “Vision & Virtuosity” Brand Exhibition Opening Gala at Saatchi Gallery on June 09, 2022 in London,Image: 698527558, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Anamaria Wiggins / Avalon 
New York, NY – The 44-year-old actor enjoyed a leisurely stroll, hand-in-hand with Florence Pugh around the Big Apple. The 24 year old Academy award nominee sported overalls as she went for a casual stroll with her 45 year old beau. Pictured: Florence Pugh, Zach Braff BACKGRID USA 12 APRIL 2019 BYLINE MUST READ: BrosNYC / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
New York, NY – The 44-year-old actor enjoyed a leisurely stroll, hand-in-hand with a mystery girl around the Big Apple. Pictured: Zach Braff BACKGRID USA 12 APRIL 2019 BYLINE MUST READ: BrosNYC / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication* 
New York, NY – The 44-year-old actor enjoyed a leisurely stroll, hand-in-hand with Florence Pugh around the Big Apple. The 24 year old Academy award nominee sported overalls as she went for a casual stroll with her 45 year old beau. Pictured: Florence Pugh, Zach Braff BACKGRID USA 12 APRIL 2019 BYLINE MUST READ: BrosNYC / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pLHLnpmirJOdxm%2BvzqZmcG9pbX1ye8WlpqudnpiyoLzUoJ%2BYm5%2Bjs6a%2F0p6qmKyYlsGgv8eelrOZk52so77An52YmqKkuKar1KmWnpmiobamvr6tn6Krj66yor6O