Olivia Wilde Was Awkwardly Served Child Custody Papers While She Was On Stage

Earlier this week, Olivia Wilde debuted the trailer for her highly anticipated 1950s thriller, Don’t Worry Darling. Fans at CinemaCon in Las Vegas were not only lucky enough to be the first ones to see the sultry trailer starring Florence Pugh and Wilde’s beau Harry Styles, but also to hear Wilde talk about her second feature film.

Unfortunately, the Book Smart director, who should have been enjoying promoting her second movie after such a successful directorial debut, had her presentation interrupted when a man unceremoniously shuffled a manilla envelope onstage.

The mysterious envelope, labeled “Personal and Confidential,” was anything but in this scenario. Wilde, being the badass she is, reportedly didn’t let the move phase her as she picked it up, took a peek inside, closed the envelope, and continued to promote her work, saying that Don’t Worry Darling is “a love letter to movies that push the boundaries of our imagination.”

It was later revealed that the papers weren’t a spec script from a hopeful screenwriter, as some speculated. They were child custody papers from her ex Jason Sudeikis.

Wilde and the Ted Lasso star first started dating in 2011 and got engaged two years later. The couple remained engaged until they ultimately parted ways in November 2020. They share two children, Otis, 8, and Daisy Josephine, 5.

While neither Wilde nor Sudeikis’ reps have commented on the poorly timed delivery of legal papers, a source told Variety that Sudeikis “had no prior knowledge” as to how or when the legal papers would be served, shifting blame to the processing service.

“Papers were drawn up to establish jurisdiction relating to the children of Ms. Wilde and Mr. Sudeikis,” the source said. “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.”

This notion conflicts with what David Glass, a family law attorney in Southern California, told People. In terms of how a process server elects to deliver legal papers, it does come down to the direction of the client’s attorney. However, Glass also noted that lawyers often ask their client where the opposing party will be.

"We always start with the easiest place and we try to do it at a time when the kids are not going to be around," Glass told People. "In fact, before even going with a process server, most times I will send an email to the opposing party and attach all the documents to say, 'Please give this to your attorney and have your attorney contact me.' "

Process servers usually come into this mix when this method hasn’t worked. They have to serve papers publicly — and give it to directly to the party in question — but it doesn’t have to be, you know, in front of an entire audience of your colleagues and admirers.

As Deadline notes, in order to get into the convention as a non-industry attendee, you needed to purchase a ticket, which insinuates this very public delivery was orchestrated somewhat in advance.

The pair are ostensibly amicable and working together as co-parents, but their break-up has had its rough spots. The couple announced their split not long after Wilde met her new beau Harry Styles on the set of her movie — and Sudeikis told People that he was “absolutely heartbroken” over it. At the same time, Wilde is reportedly very happy and in love with her new boyfriend.

Speculation and weird vibes that Ted Lasso may not be such a great guy aside, here’s hoping that the two are able to work out a child custody system that works for their entire family. And if you haven’t yet, check out the teaser trailer for Don’t Worry Darling below.