Florence Pugh believed it “was necessary” to defend her romance with Zach Braff.
Pugh, 28, and Braff, 49, faced backlash for their age gap while dating from 2019 to 2022. During an interview with British Vogue, the actress explained that she preferred to keep her relationship private, until it got to a point she needed to speak out against the “nasty” trolls.
“People were bullying me and bullying my partner,” she told the outlet. “Mine and Zach’s relationship was actually quite private until it was nasty, and I could see the toll that it was taking on him and us and our families, and that’s when I spoke out.
“I think for anyone I’m with, I want to protect them. It’s not nice knowing that people are saying the worst things I’ve ever read about someone I love. … I needed to talk about it.”
Pugh understood that “any relationship in this limelight is going to be stressed.”
During their four-year relationship, Pugh came to Braff’s defense several times. In 2019, the “Don’t Worry Darling” actress responded to an Instagram user who commented on her post, pointing out the two-decade age gap between the couple.
“And yet he got it,” Pugh replied.
Pugh addressed the comment with Elle UK in 2020, saying, “People have no right to educate me on my private life.
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“It’s bizarre that normal folk are allowed to display such hate and opinions on a part of my life that I’m not putting out there.”
In April 2020, Pugh shared a video for her fans who have weighed in on who she “should and should not love,” and captioned her video, “being hateful is not trendy.”
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Braff and Pugh have an amicable relationship since their split two years ago.
As for Pugh’s current romantic life, she teased to British Vogue that she is seeing someone but keeping her new romance private.
“We are figuring out what we actually are,” Pugh told the outlet. “And I think, for the first time, I’m not allowing myself to go on a roller coaster. I’m allowing myself to take time to let something evolve and let it be completely real to its core, as opposed to racing into that.
“Falling is the most amazing feeling, but, unfortunately, if that’s the only thing that you know in a relationship, then that’s the thing that you chase. That’s not gonna last.”
