Bye, Haters! Every Time Florence Pugh Defended Her Relationship With Zach Braff Despite Their 21-Year Age Difference

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Bye, Haters! Every Time Florence Pugh Defended Her Relationship With Zach Braff Despite Their 21-Year Age Difference

Never backing down! When it comes to her love life, Florence Pugh isn't afraid to put trolls in their place. The Little Women star was first linked to Zach Braff in April 2019 when they were spotted holding hands in New York City. The same month, Pugh starred in In the Time It Takes to Get There, a short film written and directed by Braff. While details of their romance were kept relatively private, the British actress stood her ground against comments about the 21-year age gap between her and her man. "@zachbraff you're 44 years old," a fan commented on an Instagram post of Pugh's in December 2019 after the Scrubs alum had added a princess emoji in the comments. "And yet he got it," the Midsommar actress replied, quickly shutting down the negativity. Four months later, Pugh opened up about the "abuse" that both she and Braff faced since taking their relationship public. The Oscar nominee penned a thoughtful tribute to the Garden State actor in honor of his 45th birthday that month — but wasn't too pleased with the reactions she saw from her followers. [jwplayer CuhsFfCl-zhNYySv2] "I've been wrestling with the idea for the past few days about whether I should do this video and then finally last night I thought, for my own peace of mind, I should," she said in a lengthy Instagram video at the time. "It makes me sad during this time — when we really all need to be together, we need to be supporting one another, we need to be loving one another. The world is aching and the world is dying and a few of you decided to bully for no reason." Despite seeing a number of "horrid" messages about her relationship online, Pugh declared that she was old enough to make her own decisions about who she does or doesn't want to date. "I'm 24 years old. I have been working since I was 17 years old. I have been earning money since I was 17 years old. I became an adult when I was 18 years old and I started paying taxes when I was 18 years old," she said in April 2020. "And it really has nothing to do with you." In August 2022, however, Pugh confirmed that she and Braff had called it quits. “We’ve been trying to do this separation without the world knowing, because it’s been a relationship that everybody has an opinion on,” she told Harper's Bazaar. “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.” The confirmation came after months of speculation about the duo's relationship status. Three months earlier, the Fighting With My Family actress shut down rumors that she was dating Will Poulter after she was spotted hanging out with him in Spain. "No, Will Poulter and I are not dating," she wrote via Instagram at the time. "We went to the beach with our friends, who are always about half a metre [sic] away from us in every picture, but have been cleverly cut out/framed out so that it looks otherwise." Scroll down to see more of Pugh's most biting comebacks about her relationship.

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Still Got It

When a social media user came for her boyfriend, Pugh made sure her fans knew she didn't have a problem dating a man more than 20 years her senior. "and yet he got it," she cheekily replied to a critic in December 2019.

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Done With the Abuse

"The abuse that you throw at him is abuse that you throw at me," the Black Widow star told her followers in an emotional Instagram video in April 2020 after facing backlash for wishing Braff a happy birthday. "I have never been an Instagram page that likes the toxic vibe. I have only been an Instagram page that tries to bring some light and tries to be positive and tries to make people smile. I will not allow [bullying] on my page. I'm not about that. It makes me upset. ... The world is aching and the world is dying and a few of you decided to bully for no reason."

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Grown Woman

While some people might feel uncomfortable with the significant age gap between Pugh and the Wish I Was Here director, she asserted herself as an adult who can make decisions on her own. "I'm 24 years old," she said in April 2020 after noting that she was driven to turn off comments on her Instagram account. "I do not need you to tell me who I should and should not love, and I would never in my life ever, ever tell someone who they can and cannot love. It is not your place. And really it has nothing to do with you."

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This Is a 'Strange Side of Fame'

"I've always found this part of what people do really bizarre," Pugh told Elle UK for their June 2020 issue. "I'm an actor because I like acting and I don't mind people watching my stuff, but people have no right to educate me on my private life." Though she admitted that she understood public scrutiny is "part of being in the spotlight," she didn't understand how some people are able to "display such hate" on a topic that doesn't concern them. "It's a strange side of fame that you're allowed to be torn apart by thousands of people even though you didn't put that piece of you out there," Pugh added. "My point to all this is that isn't it odd that a stranger can totally tear apart someone's relationship and it's allowed?"

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Dating Men My Age 'Hasn't Worked'

Despite negative opinions about her budding romance with Braff, the King Lear actress admitted there was a very simple explanation for why she was attracted to him. "I'm 24 and I can't choose who I love?" she said during an interview on the "Sue Perkins: An Hour or So With" podcast in July 2020. "There's a reason why I'm not with someone my age. It hasn't worked. So who are you trying to match me up with?"

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'Since When Has it Been OK?'

While discussing her perspective on living out her relationship in the public eye, Pugh acknowledged the double standard women in Hollywood face so often. "I've always found it funny, how I can be good enough for people to watch my work, and support my work, and pay for tickets, and I'm old enough to be an adult and pay taxes, but I'm not old enough to know who I should and should not have sex with," she said on the "An Hour or So With" podcast with host Sue Perkins. "Once again, [it's] making a young woman feel like s--t for no reason. I think I did feel s--t for a while about admitting that, and then I thought, 'How ridiculous is that?' ... Since when has it been OK for people to shout at someone for their relationship? It's crazy to me."

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It's Her Life

During a July 2021 interview, the Don't Worry Darling star recalled receiving hate-filled messages via social media after posting about her beau. "I think it bugs people that it's not who they expected," she told the U.K.'s Sunday Times. "But it's my life and I'm not doing anything to please people or to make it a better headline or story. I want to also be a person!”

She added: “I am 24 years old. I do not need you to tell me who I should and should not love, and I would never in my life ever, ever tell anyone who they can and cannot love. It is not your place, and really it has nothing to do with you."

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Calling Out the Hate

In May 2022, Pugh slammed negative comments about Braff after social media users speculated that she split with the director and was dating her former costar Poulter.

"Regardless of your opinion on who I should or shouldn't be with, at the end of the day if you're complimenting someone by trolling another person .. you're just bullying," the actress wrote via Instagram at the time. "There's literally no need to be horrible online — no need. Think about what you write. Think about who it affects."

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Taking Advice

In October 2022, Pugh shared some of the advice Braff gave her about reading online commentary about their relationship before their split. "Inevitably you're going to find something that hurts you," she said during an interview on the "This Cultural Life" podcast. "So, sadly, it's the hardest thing to do but you can't engage. You can't look. 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."

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People ‘Didn’t Like’ It

“We weren’t in anyone’s faces. It was just that people didn’t like it,” the Hawkeye alum told Vogue in a January 2023 profile. “They imagined me with someone younger and someone in blockbusters. I think young relationships in Hollywood are so easily twisted because they add to the gossip sites. It’s exciting to watch. And I think I was in a relationship that didn’t do any of that.”