40 Don’t Worry Darling crew members issue joint statement denying on-set drama
"There was never a screaming match between our director and anyone, let alone a member of our cast," the statement asserts
Aux News Monica Chamberlain
40 crew members who worked on Olivia Wilde’s new movie Don’t Worry Darling have issued a joint statement today, praising Wilde as “an incredible leader and director who was present with and involved in every aspect of production,” and denying that the reported on-set shouting match between Wilde and star Florence Pugh ever occurred.
“There was never a screaming match between our director and anyone, let alone a member of our cast,” according to the statement, which was signed by people at every level of the film’s production, including writer-producer Katie Silberman, director of photography Matthew Libatique, and executive producer Alex G. Scott, as well as electricians, lighting technicians, makeup artists, and many others who worked on the film’s set.
Here’s more from the statement, per People:
As a crew, we’ve avoided addressing the absurd gossip surrounding the movie we’re so proud of, but feel the need to correct the anonymous ‘sources’ quoted in a recent article. Any allegations about unprofessional behavior on the set of Don’t Worry Darling are completely false. We are happy to put our names on this, as real people who worked on the film, and who have witnessed and benefitted from the collaborative and safe space Olivia creates as a director and leader.
The statement comes just as Don’t Worry Darling arrives in theaters—where it’s projected to bring in ~$20 million this weekend—and as all involved seem to be making an effort to push back on the drama surrounding the film. Pugh herself—who supposedly refused to do any formal press for the movie—put out a statement on Instagram last night talking fondly about her experiences filming it, and included a picture of her and Wilde together in-character. (Wilde did something similar.)
You can see the full list of all 40 signatories on the statement below.
Chris Baugh, location manager
Josh Bramer, property master
Katie Byron, production designer
Matthew Libatique, director of photography
Steve Morrow, sound mixer
Arianne Phillips, costume designer
Alex G. Scott, executive producer
Katie Silberman, writer/producer
Heba Thorisdottir, makeup department head
Eliana Alcouloumre, production assistant
Mary Florence Brown, art director
Monica Chamberlain, assistant costume designer
Conrad Curtis, second second assistant director
Raphael Di Febo, assistant property master
Rachael Ferrara, set decorator
Jake Ferrero, lighting technician
Jeff Ferrero, gaffer
Zach Gulla, set dresser
Yani Gutierrez, production assistant
David Hecht, assistant property master
Becca Holstein, director’s assistant
Nic Jones, programmer
Michael Kaleta, boom operator
Gerardo Lara, electrician
JB Leconte, rig programmer
Lexi Lee, set dresser
John Mang, dolly grip
Mark Mann, best boy
Gideon Markham, lighting console programmer
Alex Mazekian, graphic artist
Melissa McSorley, food stylist
Bryan Mendoza, sound utility
Luis Moreno, rigging gaffer
Noelle Pinola, set dresser
Scott Sakamoto, A camera operator
Chris Scharffenberg, set dresser
Grace Shaw, production assistant
Alexander Szuch, electrician
Erika Toth, art director
Tricia Yoo, set costumer
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Tomorrow on the AV Club: 20 of this statement’s signatories come forth with a joint statement saying they didn’t actually sign this statement, and that they were not in a position to say whether there were any shouting matches on the set. Also, Harry Styles denies that he ever spat on Shia LaBeouf.Monday on the AV Club: Mark Mann alleges that Olivia Wilde paid the 20 crew members who signed Sunday’s statement to do so, in order to keep fanning the flames of drama and continue generating free publicity on clickbait-dependent websites. Also, Florence Pugh denies that she ever spat on Harry Styles.Tuesday on the AV Club: Olivia Wilde disputes Mark Mann’s allegations, calling him the worst boy. Also, Harry Styles’s double admits he’s the one who spat on Chris Pine.
I’d just like to say I never shat on Guy Lombardo.
Yet you conspicuously failed to deny having shat on Guy Fieri. Or Guy Caballero for that matter…
true
Follow your dreams, KCS! You can do it!
“Pugh herself—who supposedly refused to do any formal press for the movie—put out a statement on Instagram last night talking fondly about her experiences filming it, and included a picture of her and Wilde together in-character.”Kayfabe isn’t dead, Brother! We’ve all been worked!
I love how the article glosses over the fact that Pugh praises the crew but still doesn’t even acknowledge Wilde. This is passive-aggressive compliance at it’s finest. But sure, AV Club, nothing to see here.
much love-HH
What a beautiful world we live in.
and I think to myself…
…what a wonderful Wilde.
We would have also accepted “What a Pugh-tiful world”.
Also “I NEED EXACT CHANGE*
Pugh asked for it, Pugh got it: another article about some movie whose name I can’t even remember.
Hey man, beats the hell out of another Johnny Depp (beats the hell out of) Amber Heard post. This has been a delight by comparison!
Remember the time Amber Heard spit on Florence Pugh? Do I have that right?
I’m glad someone’s been reading my erotic fan fiction.
I think it’s called Put Aside Your Concerns, Sweetums.
Honestly, I think Pugh is the biggest factor in maintaining this drama here, whether or not that’s fair. She could easily tamper down on this by making a post denying beef with Wilde specifically, and the post she did make (where there’s generic praise about the experience of making the film and a photo of her and Wilde together) feels like a rather paltry PR concession to the studio. I don’t really think she owes it to them if she has legitimate grievances, but it’s hard to think of another reason for why she isn’t doing anything to actively dispute any of this, which is why I think many people are still going to buy into the gossip
This is 100% not Pugh’s responsibility. It is not her problem, her bullshit, and issuing a statement would only enable Wilde.
On the one hand, if there wasn’t a shouting match or any other altercation between Pugh and Wilde, then Pugh could put out a statement specifically citing Wilde as someone she enjoyed working with and would work with again, and that would go a long way towards tamping down this drama.On the other hand, if there wasn’t anything unusually contentious about their working relationship, then there’s absolutely no reason for Pugh to not be more active in countering the rumors; that does make it seem as though there might be some truth to them after all.On the third hand, is there really anything going on here that hasn’t happened on the sets of literally dozens of films in the past that weren’t beset by this level of rumormongering and “controversy”?
Don’t worry, darling, I’m sure it wasn’t gonna be big.
Don’t worry, darling… it’ll come to you eventually.
Okay, I know this is serious and all, but “second second assistant director”, why not just say third assistant director?
Because 2nd 2nd sounds more important than 3rd.
Or like you have a stutter.
The exact moment I thought of when I saw that.
Second assistant director might have a pay scale difference or have different duties than third assistant director
Because 2nd ADs and 3rd ADs deal with different aspects of production, it’s not about seniority at that point. In the UK, for instance, the 2nd stays on base and makes sure the cast are getting through costume and make-up, getting transported to set or home, etc, while the 3rd AD is mostly on set dealing with extras and helping the 1st AD out. Under them are floor runners. So on big productions, you need a 2nd 2nd and a 2nd 3rd, you don’t just keep going to 4th, 5th etc.
Does the second assistant director have to go get coffee for anyone?? No, no they do NOT. Neither does the second second assistant director due to the aforementioned “second assistant director does not have to go get coffee” rule.Now go get coffee for the second second assistant director, THIRD director peon! THREE SUGARS!(how it played out in my head)
Assistant TO the regional manager.
Good Lord, why would Wilde push it this hard? She is seriously worried about her future directing prospects.
While, as I said before, her true destiny is to play Quorra in my own script “Tron 3.0: The grandson of Flynn, the son of Sam and Quorra”. I will, in addition to writing the script, play the aforementioned son. Yes, I am older than either Wilde or Hedlund, but I promise I will make it work. I am open to sharing directing credit with Wilde.
Why? Advertising.On-set drama, whether real or manufactured, gets press.And if you’re mediocre (and let’s face it, Ms. Wilde is not really a noteworthy filmmaker (or much of an actor)) you’ll take all the press you can get.Everything surrounding this film seems like a play for attention.
As a former marketing bastard, this things reeks of a massive PR campaign – no, not to promote this particular, this film is merely a part of it. It sounds like the campaign is to rebrand Wilde as not just some nerdbait/TV actor as a genuine “auteur”, a director, dramaturgist, and thespian. She’s rich, white, and well-connected enough to make this happen, to buy the dozens of PR goons, social media flacks, publicists, and image wranglers to make this happen. The movie was just a means to an end; the end was also to rebrand Wilde an artiste, not just Olivia Wilde: Girl Who Was Every Gamer’s PC Wallpaper Circa 2010.The movie’s forgotten, the reviews irrelevant, but the focus on how Wilde’s, quote, “an incredible leader and director who was present with and involved in every aspect of production”. If she hadn’t already put all these PR contracts in place, if she wasn’t trying to reinvent her image, this would’ve been forgotten, and Wilde would’ve retreated to her family’s castle in England and taken her rage out on the chambermaid and laundress for a few years. Instead, they’re in damage control, and the AV Club et al is still fielding article briefs and cashing cheques from Wilde’s team to accomplish their mission: Olivia Wilde: Serious Filmmaker™.
As a former sound engineer, I also like making up multiple paragraphs of jerkoff bullshit to sound important and relevant.You fucking nonce.
You think Olivia Wilde and Olivia Munn are the same person, don’t ya?
“And we’d say the same even if Oliva Wilde wasn’t pointing a gun at us!”
Ok, now Alec Baldwin is pointing a gun at you. Whaddya say now?
“Please! I’ve got a wife! And kids!”
What the fuck is going on with this movie
Bad mojo betwixt potentially bad people.
Internet tabloid news culture + sexism.
Oh my god I don’t even know at this point what the movies about.
IS there a movie? I thought we were all participants in a massive multiplayer online performance art project about the inanity of the modern age… Are you suggesting that this Pugh woman actually exists “in real life”?!?
I cannot comprehend this notion but I’m afraid to say yes.
I have no interest in seeing this film, but I will definitely try to catch the documentary about its making in about five years.
The desperation is pathological.
Has there ever been SO MUCH said about a film that so few people will actually see?
Many times, but the movies were indeed so bad that no one remembers (or wants to).
On the part of Wilde or the AV Club?
Do you cunts actually plan on explaining at any point why anyone on Earth is supposed to care about ANY of this?
Holy shit this is so funny. Everything they do to deny the drama just makes it look worse.
Okay, people. According to IMDB the last release date for this movie is 17th November in Thailand. Add about a week either way, and after that point we’ll definitely never have to hear about this movie ever again.
Until December, when Wilde and co. start shilling for awards nominations…
While I admittedly haven’t seen it myself, from the sound of things unless the award they’re going for is “Most Irrelevant Bullshit Surrounding The Production Of A Somewhat Mediocre Movie” they’re dreaming if they think they’re in the running for anything.
My cynicism says this is just timed to get yet more press for this movie but I would really find it humorous if, after weeks of these rumors, 40 people who were somehow unaware of all the news stories suddenly found out and were like “wow guys have you heard what they’re saying about our set in the news? Someone should come out and correct that!”
This is turning into the OW Club.
FUUUUUUCK just fucking kill me
aka.ms/phonelinkqrc https://akamsyourphoneqrc.info/
So A/V Club is publishing an article debunking it’s own earlier article, while the original (apparently false) article is still posted on it’s website (and much more more prominently than this one)??
That makes 22 articles about this…
avclub: “Here’s some reported drama from the DWD set”
commentariat: “#teampugh, that Olivia Wilde is such a homewrecking liar”
avclub: “here’s a video where if you squint it looks a little bit like Harry Styles decided to spit on Chris Pine in front of hundreds of people and on camera”
commentariat: “ugh, look at how Olivia Wilde barely reacts to what is definitely happening right in front of her, what a cold manipulator she is.”
avclub: “ here’s an ‘anonymous source’ saying that there was a shouting match on the set of DWD”
commentariat: “omg Olivia Wilde is the worst!”
avclub: “here are 40 different people setting the record straight, and saying there was no drama.”
commentariat: “… Can’t believe Olivia Wilde made them say that, what a drama queen!”
The saying “Believe nothing until it has been officially denied” has been attributed to Claud Cockburn, Olivia Wilde’s grandfather, but he was quoting someone else in his memoir.
Booksmart was good.