Olivia Wilde Admits She ‘Wasn’t Surprised’ Jason Sudeikis Served Her Custody Papers At Work

View gallery

For better or for worse, Olivia Wilde was at the center of the most memorable moment from the 2022 CinemaCon. As Olivia, 38, walked on stage to talk about her new movie, Don’t Worry Darling, she was served custody papers from her former fiancé, Jason Sudeikis. “I hated that this nastiness distracted from the work of so many different people and the studio that I was up there representing,” Olivia said when reflecting on the Apil incident in the cover story for Variety’s first-ever Venice Film Festival issue. “To try to sabotage that was really vicious. But I had a job to do; I’m not easily distracted.”

Olivia did her best to roll with the punches. As she presented footage from the film – the project where she met her current boyfriend, Harry Styles – Olivia held the manila envelope containing legal documents pertaining to her and Jason’s kids, Otis, 8, and Daisy, 5. She told Variety that she somewhat anticipated this move. “But, you know, sadly, it was not something that was entirely surprising to me,” she said. “I mean, there’s a reason I left that relationship.”

“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,” said Olivia. “For me, it was appalling, but the victims were an 8- and 5-year-old, and that’s really sad. 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.”

“It was my workplace,” Olivia added about the interaction. “In any other workplace, it would be seen as an attack,” said Wilde. “It was really upsetting. It shouldn’t have been able to happen. There was a huge breach in security, which is really scary,” she added. “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.”

Jason, 45, was “just as shocked as the rest of us when he found out Olivia was served at CinemaCon,” a source told HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY after the serving happened. The Ted Lasso star “couldn’t have imagined it would go down the way it did,” according to the insider who also said that he “would never in a million years try to shame Olivia. She’s the mother of his kids, and despite their relationship not working out, he would never intentionally embarrass or humiliate her.”

Wilde and Sudeikis split in 2020 after a nine-year relationship. She told Variety that she splits custody of her kids. Otis and Daisy go back and forth between their parents’ homes week to week (she moved to London years ago with her family since that’s where Jason films Ted Lasso, and she now splits the time between Los Angeles and the U.K.)