Florence Pugh, 24, slams fans who say Zach Braff, 45, is too old for her and boasts ‘I can go out with anyone I want’
FLORENCE Pugh has criticized fans who believe they have the right to “educate her” on her own private life.
The 24-year-old actress has been dating Scrubs star Zach Braff, 45, for a year but after their romance went public, she was hit with a barrage of criticism for their age difference.
Now, the Oscar-nominated star has hit back, opening up on the “strange side of fame” that gives “normal folk” the idea they can tear someone apart.
“I have the right to hang out and be with and go out with anyone I want to,” she told Elle UK magazine.
“I know that part of being in the spotlight is that people might invade your privacy and have opinions on it, but it’s bizarre that normal folk are allowed to display such hate and opinions on a part of my life that I’m not putting out there.”
She continued: “It’s a strange side of fame that you’re allowed to be torn apart by thousands of people even though you didn’t put that piece of you out there.
“My point to all this is that isn’t it odd that a stranger can totally tear apart someone’s relationship and it’s allowed?”
The Little Women star had previously turned off her Instagram comments after a sweet birthday message to her boyfriend in early April led to a series of comments from so-called fans.
She then posted an emotional video in which she stressed that at 24 she is a grown woman and capable of making her own decisions.
“I will not allow that behavior on my page, I’m not about that. It makes me upset, it makes me sad that during this time when we really all need to be together, we need to be supporting one another,” she said.
“We need to be loving one another, the world is aching and the world is dying and a few of you have decided to bully for no reason.”
It is thought the pair met when they worked together on Zach’s short film In the Time It Takes to Get There, which also starred Alicia Silverstone.
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Florence was nominated for the EE BAFTA Rising Star award in 2018 after making her film debut in 2014’s The Falling, alongside Game of Thrones star Maisie Williams.
In the past year, she has starred in Netflix’s Outlaw King, horror flick Midsommar, and Greta Gerwig’s Little Women, and in 2020 she will star alongside Scarlett Johannson in Black Widow.