This post has been updated since its initial 09/24/22 publish date to include more info re: Olivia Wilde’s split with Jason Sudeikis and what she has said about their co-parenting in her latest interview.
Olivia Wilde is speaking out against internet trolls who accused her of being a “bad mom” and “abandoning” her children with ex Jason Sudeikis in her new November Elle Magazine cover story. “I share custody of my kids with my ex. People assume I have abandoned my kids, like my kids are just somewhere in a hot car without me,” the Booksmart director, 38, told the magazine. “The suggestion is that I have abandoned my role as a mother.” Wilde shares two children— son Otis, 8, and daughter Daisy, 5, with Sudeikis, 47, who she was in a relationship with from 2011 to 2020.
Wilde explained to online critics that she is not often “photographed” with her children on purpose, for their safety. “Do you know the lengths that I go to protect my kids from being seen by you?” she said. The Her actress previously called out classic double standards about parenting in an August interview with Variety. “The last two years, my family has gone through this kind of restructuring and a revolution that should be a totally personal experience,” she shared. “And it’s not. The most painful element of it has been women shaming me for making a decision that was for my own health and happiness.”
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Last month, Wilde discussed how she balanced her career and promoting her directorial efforts on the Don’t Worry Darling press trail with her personal life and being a mom. She also noted that (at the time) she was finding co-parenting— since she and Sudeikis went their separate ways two years ago— somewhat “tricky.” In a very candid interview on The Kelly Clarkson Show, Wilde told the “Since U Been Gone” singer that “reshaping a family” has been “tricky” for her, but it has ultimately brought her and her two children even closer together.
"I think reshaping a family is tricky," she began. "The one benefit is it’s allowed for some really deep conversations with my kids about emotions, and about happiness, and about what family means, and love. It’s actually allowed me to get to know them in a different way. My priority is them, as long as they’re happy and they’re healthy."
The actress went on to say that, despite their differences, she and the Ted Lasso actor seem to be trying their best to co-parent and put the needs of their son and daughter first, saying it is "hard but doable." And the public scrutiny that the family is under – particularly now that she has started dating former One Direction singer Harry Styles, who she met on the set of Don't Worry Darling – isn’t making it easier!
"There are so many families that are … blended and different shapes," Olivia continued. "If you can surround them with so much love, then it’s OK. But it’s tricky because we’re not doing it in private." And speaking of privacy, Olivia told Kelly that keeping things off social media has been a huge help, as has reminding herself that things could be a lot worse, and she never takes her or her children's health for granted!
"It's hard. It's hard sometimes. But at the end of the day, I'm so lucky and there's people dealing with really so many hard things…dealing with real health crises," she added. "That's what gets me through. I remind myself of that every single day. I'm not on the internet, I'm not on Instagram. So, I think that really helps."
Olivia concluded: "Focusing on what's real, your trusted circles of friends, things that make you happy, people you love, people who love you. Just keeping your mind in what's real. And also watching people—my colleagues—get through it. It could be a lot worse and we're alive and everything's going to be OK."
