Olivia Wilde's Praise for Harry Styles in Her Woman-Led Film Divides Fans
Film/TV

Olivia Wilde's Praise for Harry Styles in Her Woman-Led Film Divides Fans

Fans are divided over Olivia Wilde's post praising Harry Styles for taking a supporting role in her woman-led film.

After firing Shia LaBeouf last September for "poor behavior," the director cast Styles — who she's reportedly been dating since January — opposite of Florence Pugh in her forthcoming psychological thriller Don't Worry Darling. That said, after they wrapped filming earlier this week, Wilde ended up writing a tribute post applauding Styles for taking a backseat to Pugh in the movie — and now, it's engendering some debate.

Related | Olivia Wilde Reportedly Fired Shia LaBeouf From 'Don't Worry Darling' For 'Poor Behavior'

"Little known fact. Most male actors don't want to play supporting roles in female-led films. The industry has raised them to believe it lessens their power (i.e financial value) to accept these roles, which is one of the reasons it's so hard to get financing for movies focusing on female stories," Wilde wrote. "No joke, it is harrrrrd to find actors who recognize why it might be worth it to allow for a woman to hold the spotlight. Enter: @harrystyles, our 'Jack.'"

Wilde also went on to commend Styles for approaching the project with "humility and grace," and added that he "allowed" Pugh "to hold center stage." However, her post has since spurred an online discussion about congratulating men for doing "the bare minimum."

"So we are celebrating an emerging male actor for doing the job he was hired to do?," as journalist Hanna Flint wrote alongside a screenshot of Wilde's caption. "We get it, you love him and he is great but this one is for bare minimum Twitter."

"THE BAR IS IN HELL," another person added, while a third said, "I love Olivia Wilde but girl why are we praising men for doing the bare minimum. It's literally his job."

Additionally, some took issue with Wilde focusing her tribute on Styles rather than Pugh, especially since the post was supposed to be about letting strong female leads shine.

"Not Olivia Wilde talking about how the movie is all about a woman and then making the entire caption about praising Harry," as one commenter pointed out.

Meanwhile, another person wrote, "This is especially infuriating because of how accomplished @Florence_Pugh is."

"It's not like she's some unknown who needed help. She's a powerhouse and Harry had a lot to learn from HER," they continued. "We cannot celebrate men for allowing women to flourish. Women would flourish even w/out men."

Granted, some defenders argued that Wilde was actually trying to take aim at Hollywood's toxic masculinity problem by "shading men in Hollywood for being unwilling to step back while women take the lead," specifically LaBeouf.

As one person said, "Olivia was praising Harry for lifting up another woman, praising him for wanting a film directed by a woman whose film revolves around the life of a woman to succeed and do well when she'd experienced a man (Shia) wanting the opposite for her film."

Wilde has yet to address the discussion.

Photos via Getty

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