Olivia Wilde won't forget her experience at CinemaCon.
In April, the Don't Worry Darling director was excited to introduce her upcoming film at the convention, but the headline to come out of the event was that she was served custody papers from her ex Jason Sudeikis.
"It was my workplace," the mom of Otis, 8, and Daisy, 5, explained to Variety. "In any other workplace, it would be seen as an attack. It shouldn't have been able to happen. There was a huge breach in security, which is really scary. 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."
What was also disappointing to Olivia was the fact that the moment took away from the cast and crew, who made the film possible.
"I hated that this nastiness distracted from the work of so many different people and the studio that I was up there representing," she said. "To try to sabotage that was really vicious. But I had a job to do; I'm not easily distracted. But, you know, sadly, it was not something that was entirely surprising to me. I mean, there's a reason I left that relationship."
While Olivia knows she is a public figure, she expressed her wish that things were handled privately, partly because of her children.
"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," Olivia told Variety. "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."
Olivia and Jason started dating in 2011. They got engaged two years later but ultimately broke up in 2020.
Back in May, a source close to Jason told E! News that the actor had "no prior knowledge" about when or how court documents were going to be handed to his ex. The source added that Jason "would never condone her being served in such an inappropriate manner."
In a court filing obtained by Daily Mail earlier this month, Jason said he did not intend for his ex to receive the papers onstage, but instead requested it be at the airport or her hotel.
"I deeply regret what happened," he said in court papers. "Olivia's talk was an important event for Olivia, both professionally and personally, and I am very, very sorry that the incident marred her special moment."
E! News has reached out to Jason's team for comment on her new interview and hasn't heard back.
Back in August, Olivia received a small victory in court amid the custody battle with her ex. According to court documents obtained by TMZ, a judge ruled in Olivia's favor that California is their children's home state; not New York for which Jason petitioned.
As for her current relationship with boyfriend Harry Styles, Olivia isn't ready to kiss and tell in hopes of keeping things private.
"I'm not going to say anything about it because I've never seen a relationship benefit from being dragged into the public arena," she told Variety. "We both go out of our way to protect our relationship; I think it's out of experience, but also just out of deep love."