Florence Pugh Opens Up About Wanting To 'Protect' Zach Braff From Online Abuse

Florence Pugh is reflecting on her past relationship with Zach Braff with the benefit of hindsight. 

In a new interview with British Vogue , the Black Widow actor touched on the scrutiny she and Braff, who is 21 years her senior, endured over the course of their three-year romance because of their age gap. 

I had to be public in the past because people were bullying me and bullying my partner, Pugh said. Mine and Zachs relationship was actually quite private until it was nasty, and I could see the toll that it was taking on him and us and our families. And thats when I spoke out.

She went on to note: I think for anyone Im with, I want to protect them. Its not nice knowing that people are saying the worst things Ive ever read about someone that I love. So that was necessary. I needed to talk about it. I think any relationship in this limelight is going to be stressed.

Pugh didnt list specific instances in the new profile, but she has pushed back on online negativity before. In April 2020, the actor decried the abuse  she received online after acknowledging Braffs 45th birthday on social media.

I do not need you to tell me who I should or should not love, and I would never in my life ever, ever tell anyone who they can or cannot love, she said. It is not your place and really, it has nothing to do with you.

Braff, an actor-director best known for Scrubs and his 2004 film Garden State, directed Pugh in 2023s A Good Person , which garnered mixed reviews. 

About a year prior to the movies release, Pugh confirmed that the couple had called it quits, telling Harpers Bazaar  that she and Braff aimed to keep the media speculation regarding their relationships demise at a minimum. 

We havent signed up for a reality TV show, she said. Weve been trying to do this separation without the world knowing, because its been a relationship that everybody has an opinion on. We just felt something like this would really do us the benefit of not having millions of people telling us how happy they are that were not together. 

Elsewhere in her British Vogue chat , Pugh confirmed that she is currently in a relationship. Though she didnt identify her partner by name, she said the pair are figuring what we actually are.  

I love knowing that someone is thinking about me and someone cares for me in the same way that Im thinking about caring for them, she said. I think in this portion of my life, Im trying to make sure that Im making all the right decisions so that I can have the thing that I want which is safety, family, a home and security. 

Pugh is set to return to the big screen this fall in We Live in Time , co-starring Andrew Garfield and directed by John Crowley. The romantic drama premiered this month at the Toronto International Film Festival to mostly positive reviews, with The Hollywood Reporter calling it beautifully performed and thoughtfully executed.