Olivia Wilde is doubling down on her claims that she fired Shia LaBeouf from Don't Worry Darling.
Following the Honey Boy actor's assertions that he quit the film, the director stood by her initial remarks on his removal, telling Vanity Fair that she made the move after Don't Worry Darling's leading lady, Florence Pugh, expressed discomfort with LaBeouf's behavior during pre-production.
"My responsibility was towards her. I'm like a mother wolf. Making the call was tricky, but in a way he understood. I don't think it would've been a process he enjoyed," Wilde said in the Sept. 8 cover story. "He comes at his work with an intensity that can be combative. It wasn't the ethos that I demand in my productions. I want him to get well and to evolve because I think it's a great loss to the film industry when someone that talented is unable to work."
Wilde first addressed LaBeouf's departure from the movie in a Variety Aug. 24 interview. The Peanut Butter Falcon actor, who was initially casted to play Jack in the Don't Worry Darling, exited the film in August 2020 and was subsequently replaced by Harry Styles.
"He has a process that, in some ways, seems to require a combative energy, and I don't personally believe that is conducive to the best performances," Wilde told Variety. "I believe that creating a safe, trusting environment is the best way to get people to do their best work. Ultimately, my responsibility is to the production and to the cast to protect them. That was my job."
LaBeouf rejected Wilde's assertion that she fired him, forwarding an email to Variety on Aug. 26 that he sent to Wilde following her Variety story where he notes that he left the film due to rehearsal issues.
"I am a little confused about the narrative that I was fired, however. You and I both know the reasons for my exit," LaBeouf wrote to Wilde. "I quit your film because your actors & I couldn't find time to rehearse."
In a Sept. 8 Hollywood Reporter interview, LaBeouf addressed Wilde's latest comments in Vanity Fair.
"It is what it is," LaBeouf wrote to the publication, "every blessing to her and her film."