Olivia Wilde discusses being served child custody papers during CinemaCon
At a recent CinemaCon industry convention, where Olivia Wilde was introducing her forthcoming film Don’t Worry Darling, the Booksmart director was just about to show the first footage of her new psychological thriller when she was handed a mysterious envelope. It was initially said to contain a script, but it transpired that the internal documents were, in fact, child custody papers from her former partner Jason Sudeikis.
When the news broke, Sudeikis quickly denied involvement with the incident, claiming that he had no prior knowledge that Wilde would receive the documents at her place of work. In a statement released on behalf of Sudeikis, it was noted: “Papers were drawn up to establish jurisdiction relating to the children of Ms. Wilde and Mr. Sudeikis. Mr. Sudeikis had no prior knowledge of the time or place that the envelope would have been delivered as this would solely be up to the process service company involved and he would never condone her being served in such an inappropriate manner.”
After a period of radio silence, Olivia Wilde has now discussed the CinemaCon incident for the first time, explaining that it has been “deeply painful” for her children to be involved in a matter that should have remained private. Wilde and Sudeikis, who were in a relationship from 2011 to 2020, have two young children: eight-year-old Otis and five-year-old Daisy.
Discussing the incident in a Variety cover story, Wilde said: “It was my workplace. In any other workplace, it would be seen as an attack. It was really upsetting. 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.”
When she was handed the envelope, Wilde simply continued her presentation. Now, she has clarified that she “hated that this nastiness distracted from the work of so many different people and the studio that I was up there representing. 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.”
Since the incident, a judge has ruled in Wilde’s favour that California – not Sudeikis’ New York – is the children’s home state. “The only people who suffered were my kids,” Wilde continued, “Because they’ll have to see that, and they shouldn’t ever have to know that happened. For me, it was appalling, but the victims were an eight- and five-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.”
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