Florence Pugh says online abuse over Zach Braff relationship ‘hurt’ her

Florence Pugh says she received significant abuse over the 21-year age gap with Zach Braff when they were in a relationship. Photo / Getty Images

Florence Pugh struggled with the “insane amount of abuse” over her relationship with Zach Braff.

The 29-year-old actor has admitted she was “hurt” by the backlash over the 21-year age gap between her and the Scrubs actor, who she split from in 2022 after three years together.

She told the Louis Theroux Podcast: “It was an insane amount of abuse being hurled at my relationship just because there was an age gap.

“I stood up for it, and I stood up for him and I stood up for me just being allowed to do whatever the f*** I wanted to do, and that kind of did actually change a few people’s minds.

“I’ll always defend people that I love, I will always stand up for them.

“I’ll always make sure that if there needs to be a reset and there needs to be a bit of a smack on the wrist, I will do that because it’s not fair that so much of your life gets to have jabs.”

Pugh said in the interview she was dating again and her relationship feels “very good”, but she wouldn’t confirm the identity of her partner.

Reflecting on her time with Braff, she said that people “want a reality show” when it comes to celebrity romance, regardless of how happy the couple are.

The We Live In Time star said: “They want a story; they want a reality show. It doesn’t really matter how much you say you love someone or how much they make you happy.

“If they don’t like them and it doesn’t fit that image that they want of you, they don’t care. And I think that hurt me.”

She recalled having to call out her Instagram followers for the abuse they were hurling Braff’s way, which was “really horrible to see”.

“I think I just needed to check everyone, and so I made a video and it got a lot of love and lots of people were supportive, which was great. I do think people online need to be reminded that we’re real.”