The lead-up to the release of Olivia Wilde’s film Don’t Worry Darling has taken a strange turn as the director has found herself at odds over the departure of one of its former stars before Harry Styles took the role opposite Florence Pugh.

Before Styles was in the co-star role, Wilde was going to shoot the part with Shia LaBoeuf. The director told Variety that she decided to move on from LaBoeuf in casting because “his process was not conducive to the ethos that I demand in my productions. He has a process that, in some ways, seems to require a combative energy.”

She also spoke more about her directing process. “I believe that creating a safe, trusting environment is the best way to get people to do their best work,” Wilde explained.

LaBoeuf then responded in a bizarre way. He told Wilde in emails he shared Variety that he actually “quit the film due to lack of rehearsal time,” and also attached several alleged text exchanges he said were between him and Wilde.

Some of the emails were sent in response to Wilde’s recent interview, while others go back to years when he was still going to do Don’t Worry Darling.

The actor claimed he quit the film over text to Wilde because they couldn’t accommodate his immersive rehearsal requests. He even shared a video he said Wilde recorded asking him to stay on and that she’s “not ready to give up on this yet.”

Whether these texts are real or not, there are plenty of other instances that point to LaBoeuf having a combative nature off-set, at least in the past.

He is set to go to trial next year for allegedly abusing his ex-girlfriend FKA Twigs, and has also been arrested several times for aggressive public behavior and public intoxication.

LaBoeuf’s recent email to Wilde was rambly and long-winded, but he did get to discuss DWD and alluded to his upcoming trial with Twigs. He framed Wilde’s interview as “attractive clickbait,” implying that she is doing this to drum up press for the film.

When discussing his allegations of abuse, LaBoeuf wrote “my failings with Twigs are fundamental and real, but they are not the narrative that has been presented.”

It’s interesting that he brought this up without Wilde mentioning it, but he connected the two oddly when he said, “this situation with your film and my ‘firing’ will never have a court date to deal with the facts. If lies are repeated enough, they become truth.”

Wilde has yet to respond to this latest deluge from LaBoeuf. Don’t Worry Darling will premiere on September 23.

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