Florence Pugh has confirmed that she has broken up with longtime boyfriend, Zach Braff, in a recent interview.
The Don't Worry Darling actress revealed to Harper's Bazaar for their September issue that the couple, who had been together for three years, actually parted ways earlier this year.
The couple's decision to keep their separation secret comes after years of intense public interest and scrutiny about the 21 year age gap between the 26-year-old actress and the 47-year-old Scrubs alumnus, which is something Pugh believes "everyone has an opinion on."
The British-born beauty shared her views on the media's interest in her life to Harper's Bazaar, stating: "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," she defiantly stated.
Despite being kept relatively quiet, Pugh and Braff's relationship has been tainted with cruel remarks from media outlets and social media users, who constantly criticized the couple's two-decade age-gap.
In 2019, when the couple were first romantically linked, some Twitter users couldn't help but comment. One tweet read: "People seem surprised that 44-year-old Zach Braff is dating 23-year-old Florence Pugh, despite the existence of the film Garden State. He thinks a young, beautiful woman is going to save him, guys. It's all right there on the screen."
For reference, that same twitter user described the plot of the movie he was referring to, Garden State: "It's a movie about a guy who's troubled and in a dark place, who meets a young quirky girl that "cures" him. I'm just saying, if you are a male person who believes in that, you will always be on the hunt for the next young quirky girl to save you, even long after you get old."
It was around this time that Pugh also faced backlash from internet trolls and nasty news outlets who seemingly disapproved of the photo she posted of her then-beau to Instagram for his birthday.
In response, the actress posted a video on Instagram calling out the hatefulness, saying: "Within about 8 minutes of the photo being posted, I had about 70% 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," she continued.
"I will not allow that behavior on my page. I'm not about that. It makes me upset."
Braff, who unfortunately seemed to be the main target for the vicious trolling, applauded Pugh on her response, telling Mr. Porter that it was "intelligent and articulate."
Speaking on her decision to quietly end their relationship, Pugh 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."
The couple had collaborated on one last project before their split, a film that Braff had written with Pugh in mind for the lead. Set for release in 2023, A Good Person focuses on the life of a woman who has to overcome a sudden tragedy.
She gushed: "The movie that we made together genuinely was probably one of my most favorite experiences [...] It felt like a very natural and easy thing to do."
Pugh is also set to star in Olivia Wilde's upcoming flick, Don't Worry Darling, opposite pop icon Harry Styles. The film's release is scheduled for late September.
