Olivia Wilde Opens Up About Ex-Jason Sudeikis Serving Her Custody Papers on Stage: ‘In Any Other Workplace, It Would Be Seen as An Attack’

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Actress Olivia Wilde was publicly served custody papers by her ex, Jason Sudeikis, while on stage promoting an upcoming film back in May and she’s finally ready to open up about the experience.

Back in May, the actress, now dating former One Direction bandmate Harry Styles, was at the CinemaCon 2022 convention in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Wilde was promoting her upcoming film Don’t Worry Darling, in which Styles is one of the stars.

As she was giving her presentation, a random person came up to the stage with a manilla envelope. Wilde grabbed the envelope, thinking it was fan mail of some kind, and began to open it on stage.

She had been publicly served by Sudeikis for custody over their two kids, Otis and Daisy.

Sudeikis later released a statement to Deadline through a representative to say he was shocked the papers would be served in such a public way.

“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.”

Now, Wilde is speaking out for the first time about the incident in a new interview for Variety.

“It was my workplace,” Wilde told the magazine in reference to being served on stage. “In any other workplace, it would be seen as an attack. It was really upsetting. It shouldn’t have been able to happen. There was a huge breach in security, which is really scary. The hurdles that you had to jump through to get into that room with several badges, plus special COVID tests that had to be taken days in advance, which gave you wristbands that were necessary to gain access to the event — this was something that required forethought.”

Wilde cited that this type of “sabotage” was one reason she left the relationship with Sudeikis.

“I hated that this nastiness distracted from the work of so many different people and the studio that I was up there representing,” she added. “To try to sabotage that was really vicious. But I had a job to do; I’m not easily distracted.” She adds, “But, you know, sadly, it was not something that was entirely surprising to me. I mean, there’s a reason I left that relationship.”

Wilde voiced sadness that her children were in the middle of that public humiliation.

“The only people who suffered were my kids, because they’ll have to see that, and they shouldn’t ever have to know that happened. For me, it was appalling, but the victims were an 8- and 5-year-old, and that’s really sad,” Wilde told Variety.

“I chose to become an actress; I willingly walked into the spotlight. But it’s not something my children have asked for. And when my kids are dragged into it, it’s deeply painful,” she concluded.

Wilde and Sudeikis began dating in 2011 and became engaged in 2013. The couple called off their relationship in November 2020, weeks before Wilde began dating now-boyfriend Styles.