Olivia Wilde Has Strong Words For People Who Wonder Where Her Kids Are

Olivia Wilde has made many headlines over the past few months — some accusing her of participating in on-set feuds while others suspect her of favoritism while in the director’s chair. It seems that Wilde doesn’t really care about those kinds of rumors, but the minute people start calling her a bad mom — all bets are off.

Wilde opened up to Elle about how difficult it can be to a mom — especially one in the spotlight. Her split from Ted Lasso star Jason Sudeikis has been very public, and with that also came a very public custody battle with Wilde even being served papers on stage while speaking at an event.

When asked about her kids, she understandably had a very stern and clear answer, clapping back at those assuming she’s a bad mom if she’s not with her children 100% of the time. (What mom is?!)

“I share custody of my kids with my ex. If I’m photographed not with my kids, people assume I have abandoned them, like my kids are just somewhere in a hot car without me,” she told Elle. “The suggestion is that I have abandoned my role as a mother. You know why you don’t see me with my kids? Because I don’t let them get photographed. Do you know the lengths that I go to to protect my kids from being seen by you?”

While she dismisses the claims that she’s an unfit mother, she does say she is grateful for those who trust and believe in her — mainly the women in her life. She tells Elle that she’s had enough of women being pitted against each other and wants to change the narrative.

“There’s a much stronger sense of community. We were kept in separate rooms for a long time.... [Women] could realize, ‘Wait a minute, why have I been told you’re my competitor? You’re not. You’re actually my partner. How convenient that they told us we were competitors.’”

Though she is all for female empowerment, she is, however, baffled by those that still come after her for things like her age (a possible shade to her 10 year age gap with musician boyfriend, Harry Style). Though she hears the haters, she doesn’t let them infiltrate her psyche.

“It’s so interesting for me when that comes from women because I’m like, ‘Do you plan on not getting older? Or if you already are older, do you feel that you don’t deserve the same opportunities in life?’ It’s so sad to me to look at that and realize people have such small expectations for their own lives and they are projecting those expectations onto me. And I reject your projections.”

Her thick skin may come from the realization that being an actress in Hollywood comes with a lot of public opinion (and not a lot of them are favorable). She referenced something her Don’t Worry Darling costar said about their careers when handling all the rumors swirling about the drama on set of the psychological thriller.

“Florence had a really wise comment that we didn’t sign up for a reality show. And I love that she put it that way, because it’s as though the general public feels that if you are making something that you’re selling to the public, you somehow have accepted that your life will be torn to shreds by a pack of wolves. No, that’s actually not part of the job description. Never was,” she stated.

Seems like Olivia Wilde is an actress, director, producer, and a great mom. And she is not letting the bastards get her down. More power to her.