Years after the Don’t Worry Darlingpress tour became a headline-generating whirlwind, Olivia Wilde is finally opening up about the emotional toll–and the unexpected celebrity who helped her keep her footing.
Appearing on the Call Her Daddypodcast, the actress and director revealed that one of her most meaningful sources of support came from none other than Pamela Anderson.
After watching Pamela’s documentary Pamela, A Love Story,Wilde felt compelled to reach out.
“I actually learned this from — this sounds so crazy. But after I saw the documentary, I reached out to her, and I was like, ‘Yo, respect. Just want to say big fan,’” Wilde shared.
What followed was advice she says has stayed with her ever since.
As per Wilde, Anderson acknowledged the public scrutiny surrounding her at the time and told her: “The most rebellious thing you can do is stay soft. Don’t let it harden you.”
The message landed at exactly the right moment.
As rumours and speculation dominated conversations around Don’t Worry Darling, Wilde admitted she often felt tempted to publicly correct the narrative.
“It was so hard, because I wanted to be like, ‘Can I just talk to people? Can I just go and say, ‘That’s not true! That’s not true!’” she said. “And it was like, ‘No, that won’t help.’ And that was really hard.”
Instead, Wilde chose to keep the spotlight on the film itself.
“I was like, ‘It’s not about me. It’s about this movie that everyone works so hard to make,’” she explained, noting that hundreds of people had worked through pandemic-era challenges to bring the project to life.
Looking back, Wilde believes the criticism often overshadowed the work.
“I felt frustrated that I couldn’t defend myself,” she admitted, adding that “the pummeling that I took was so insanely disproportionate.”
And through it all, one lesson stuck: sometimes the strongest response is not fighting back–it’s refusing to let the noise change who you are.
2026-06-21 12:44:00
