Olivia Wilde broke her silence about receiving custody papers from her ex-fiance Jason Sudeikis while taking the stage at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, Nevada. According to Fox News, the infamous incident happened in April while the 38-year-old actress and director were announcing her next psychological drama, Don’t Worry Darling, in front of a crowd at the biggest annual conference of movie theatre owners.
“It was my workplace,” Wilde told Variety, speaking out for the first time on the headline-making moment in an interview that was published Wednesday. “In any other workplace, it would be seen as an attack.”
She continued, “It was really upsetting. It shouldn’t have been able to happen. There was a huge breach in security, which is really scary.”
“The hurdles that you had to jump through to get into that room with several badges, plus special COVID tests that had to be taken days in advance, which gave you wristbands that were necessary to gain access to the event — this was something that required forethought,” the “House” alum added.
At the time, a representative for Sudeikis said that he “had no previous knowledge” of how Wilde would be served the documents pertaining to the custody agreements for their children, Otis, 8, and Daisy, 5 and that he “had no prior knowledge” of how they would be served.
“Papers were drawn up to establish jurisdiction relating to the children of Ms Wilde and Mr Sudeikis,” the 46-year-old actor’s spokesperson told Fox News Digital in April.
“Mr Sudeikis had no prior knowledge of the time or place that the envelope would have been delivered as this would solely be up to the process service company involved and he would never condone her being served in such an inappropriate manner.”
The “Tron: Legacy” actress was talking about her movie during the incident when she was interrupted by a woman who gave her a manila envelope with the words “Personal and Confidential” written on it.
She added that she assumed the envelope might be a script and she chose to open it, but she only glanced at its contents before continuing with her presentation.
Wilde admitted that she had been more worried about the effects the incident might have on the other people working on the project at the time.
Wilde didn’t specifically mention Sudeikis when speaking about the incident, according to Variety, but she seemed to make a reference to her ex-partner when she said that she wasn’t entirely shocked by what happened.
“I hated that this nastiness distracted from the work of so many different people and the studio that I was up there representing,” the “Booksmart” director said. “To try to sabotage that was really vicious. But I had a job to do. I’m not easily distracted.”
She continued, “But, you know, sadly, it was not something that was entirely surprising to me. I mean, there’s a reason I left that relationship.”
Wilde also resented the way in which a private problem affecting her children was made public.
“The only people who suffered were my kids because they’ll have to see that, and they shouldn’t ever have to know that happened. For me, it was appalling, but the victims were an 8- and 5-year-old, and that’s really sad,” she said.
Wilde added, “I chose to become an actress. I willingly walked into the spotlight. But it’s not something my children have asked for. And when my kids are dragged into it, it’s deeply painful.”
The two announced their separation in November 2020 after a seven-year engagement. Over the past few months, a contentious custody dispute has been going on between the “Ted Lasso” actor and the actress from “The Lazarus Effect.”
This month, a judge determined that California, where Wilde resides, is the children’s home state, giving her her first legal victory. Since he wished to designate New York as the kids’ home state, Sudeikis had petitioned against Wilde.
Wilde is currently dating Don’t Worry Darling star Harry Styles. The two went public with their romance in January 2021.
-with ANI inputs
