Over the last several years, Florence Pugh has developed many fans who want to know about the young and upcoming actor. While Pugh has been outstanding in films like Midsommar, Little Women, and Fighting With My Family, there is no doubt that she is best known as a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Of course, that makes perfect sense since the MCU is the highest-grossing film franchise in history and Pugh has been incredibly charming in the role of Yelena Belova.
Given the fact that so many celebrities have seen their careers fall apart after a single misstep, it makes sense that many movie stars seem to live in fear of doing anything that angers their fans. On the other end of the spectrum, Florence Pugh has made it clear that she doesn’t suffer fools lightly during her time in the spotlight. For that reason, it isn’t overly surprising that Pugh has called out her haters and her fans in the past.
Florence Pugh And Zach Braff’s Controversial Relationship
Throughout modern history, there have been some examples of female celebrities dating people who are many years younger than them. For example, it was pretty notable when couples like Kate Beckinsale and Pete Davidson, Holland Taylor and Sarah Paulson, as well as Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher got together. However, the vast majority of celebrity couples with a big age gap feature older men and younger women.
When the world learned that Florence Pugh and Zach Braff were a couple in 2019, they became yet another example of a much older male star dating a young female celebrity. After all, according to Wikipedia, Braff is just under twenty years older than Pugh. As a result of Braff being much older than Pugh, their relationship has been quite controversial with many observers feeling the need to express their disapproval.
Florence Pugh Calls Out Her Followers For Hating On Her Relationship With Zach Braff
After it was confirmed that Pugh and Braff were together, the two of them weren’t shy about posting images of each other on social media. In response, some of their followers have taken the opportunity to lavish hate on their relationship and Braff in particular. Deeply upset by the comments on a photo she posted on Instagram celebrating Braff’s birthday, Pugh posted a video calling out her followers in 2020.
“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. On Monday, I posted a photo in honor of Zach’s birthday and I wrote a birthday message underneath. Within about eight minutes of the photo being posted, I had about 70 percent of the comments hurling abuse and being horrid — basically bullying someone on my page. It is the first time in my entire Instagram life that I’ve had to turn off the 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.”
“I will not allow that behavior on my page. I’m not about that. It makes me upset, 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. 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. I’ll underline this fact, 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 tell anyone who they can and cannot love. It is not your place and really, it has nothing to do with you.”
“So, if those rules are something you do not like, then please unfollow me because The abuse that you throw at him is abuse that you are throwing at me, and I don’t want those followers. I do not want to have to be protecting my comments every time I post a picture of him.”
Other Times Florence Pugh Has Defended Her Relationship With Zach Braff
Even though she succinctly called out people in the aforementioned video, Florence Pugh has been forced to address her relationship with Zach Braff several other times. For example, during a 2020 Elle UK interview, Pugh was asked about the relationship backlash and didn’t mince words in response. "I've always found this part of what people do really bizarre. 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."
During an appearance on the podcast Sue Perkins: An Hour or So With, Florence Pugh again addressed her relationship with Zach Braff. "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?" "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. 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."
