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Olivia Wilde’s revenge: How she got people to stop talking about everything but her work

✇El País - English
By: Carlos Megía

© Marc Piasecki (Getty Images)

Olivia Wilde returns to the screen and the director’s chair with 'The Invite,' a comedy about secrets, desire and the cracks that emerge when a couple believes they know each other a little too well. The film, in which she stars alongside Penélope Cruz and which is already generating Oscar buzz, marks the return of one of the most controversial figures in recent Hollywood history.

An actress turned director, outspoken feminist and central character in one of the entertainment industry's most talked-about sagas, the 42-year-old filmmaker has gone from being the young doctor on 'House' to embodying the contradictions of an industry that applauds women for breaking the rules, but does not always forgive them for doing so on their own terms.

© Gilbert Flores (Variety via Getty Images)

If there is one thing Wilde has made clear during the promotional tour for 'The Invite,' it is her fascination with Penélope Cruz. The director and actress has even joked that she has not washed her hands since touching those of the Madrid-born star, who plays a free-spirited woman capable of turning her neighbors’ relationship upside down. The couple next door are played by Wilde herself and Seth Rogen.

The two have displayed their easy rapport throughout recent promotional appearances, with Wilde at one point describing her co-star as “the sexiest woman alive.” In one scene, Cruz unexpectedly kisses Wilde. The filmmaker has admitted that she completely lost her composure, her mind went blank and she fell hopelessly in love with her co-star.

© Taylor Hill (Getty Images)

Wilde is one of the filmmakers who has openly spoken about the difficulties she encounters when casting her films and trying to find actresses who have not undergone cosmetic procedures.

“As a director, I now am constantly searching for actresses who can still move their faces. And it’s not easy!” she said. “I don’t blame them. I’m a product of the same machine, I’m under the same pressures; I get it.”

“I just pray for technology to allow treatments that just aren’t so aggressive. Like, there’s something so medieval about all these things. Can’t someone come up with something better than Botox?” she continued.

© Karwai Tang (WireImage)

For Wilde, the issue is also personal. In recent years, her own public appearances have been met with cruel remarks about her looks, her age and speculation about possible cosmetic procedures.

In 2026, photos of the actress became fodder for mockery on social media, particularly because of her extreme thinness. Wilde herself responded with humor, acknowledging that in those viral images she really did look “like a little dead sarcophagus man.”

© Neil Mockford (GC Images)

On Jan. 6, 2021, the world woke up to an image that would dominate headlines for months: Olivia Wilde and Harry Styles walking hand in hand. Wilde was directing her second film, 'Don't Worry Darling,' and Styles, the former One Direction member, was one of its stars.

The couple’s 10-year age gap, the singer’s global fame and Wilde’s recent separation turned the relationship into a media phenomenon. The spiral soon became impossible to stop: Shia LaBeouf’s departure from the project, rumors that the film’s lead actress, Florence Pugh, had a strained relationship with Wilde and was unhappy with the displays of affection between the director and Styles during filming, and the supposedly viral incident in which Styles appeared to spit on Chris Pine at the Venice Film Festival.

Wilde has since acknowledged that she perhaps should have pushed back against some of the allegations. At the same time, she has recalled that she was experiencing moments of great happiness in her private life.

“ It was like a tornado was right outside the door, and if you were inside you were like, ‘It’s so nice,’” she said. “And you open the door and be like, ‘Ah,’ like a fucking like cow and a tractor would fly by.”

© Gilbert Carrasquillo (GC Images)

Wilde grew up in Georgetown, Washington, D.C., in a household where current affairs were effectively a member of the family. Her parents, journalists Andrew and Leslie Cockburn, hosted dinner parties attended by guests as prominent as Mick Jagger, Steven Spielberg and writer Salman Rushdie.

Her mother worked as a war correspondent and went on to become a renowned investigative journalist before taking her career in a different direction. In 2018, at the age of 66, she ran as a Democratic candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives, with her daughter’s public support. She lost to the Republican candidate, but her trajectory left Wilde with a powerful example of political engagement and reinvention.

© Gilbert Flores (WWD via Getty Images)

The role that changed everything for Olivia Wilde, who was born Olivia Cockburn and later adopted the surname Wilde in homage to Oscar Wilde, was that of internist Remy Hadley, better known as Thirteen to both Dr. House and the millions of viewers of the medical drama.

Joining the show's fourth season turned her into an international star and one of Hollywood’s most sought-after actresses. After starring in big-budget films such as 'Tron: Legacy' and 'Cowboys & Aliens,' both of which met with limited critical and commercial success, Wilde later said she felt exploited and objectified by the film industry.

“I had become numb to the fact that every meeting I went on — with men and women, by the way — I was going to be judged on my physical appearance,” she said.

© Chelsea Guglielmino (FilmMagic)

Wilde’s feminist commitment predates the controversies that would later put her at the center of the headlines. In 2017, when the #MeToo movement brought the industry’s abuses of power into the spotlight, she joined the growing chorus of voices calling for change. She also became one of the public faces of Time’s Up, the initiative launched by women in Hollywood to combat sexual harassment and promote safer workplaces, and spoke at the 2018 Women’s March in Los Angeles.
“This business belongs to all of us,” she said that year, advocating for an industry in which her peers could work without fear and without having to compete for opportunities that had historically been denied to them.

© Axelle/Bauer-Griffin (FilmMagic)

Wilde’s debut as a feature-film director came in 2019 with a low-budget comedy that quickly achieved cult status among a generation of moviegoers: 'Booksmart.' The film, which follows two high school students on one final night of partying before graduation, was a hit with both critics and audiences.

Wilde had long wanted to stop being just another cog in the industry and take a more active role in the creative process.

“I always assumed acting was the way in, because for many young women … they’re told, ‘You love movies — you should be a movie star,’" she told 'Variety.' "No one tells a little girl, ‘Why don’t you become a director?’ It’s just not a part of the conversation. But if a little boy says he loves movies, it’s like, ‘Maybe one day you’ll direct. Maybe you’ll be the next Steven Spielberg or Martin Scorsese.’”

© Donato Sardella (WireImage)

“Romantic and insane.” That is how Olivia Wilde describes her first great love story, which began in 2003 when she was just 19 years old.

At Burning Man, the unconventional arts and music festival held in Nevada’s desert, the young Wilde said “I do” to her boyfriend of only a few months, filmmaker Tao Ruspoli, the son of an Italian prince. By her own account, it took only seconds for her to realize that the ceremony might have been a little too impulsive.

“Immediately, I was like, 'Wait, what the fuck did I just do?'” she remembers thinking.

The marriage ended in divorce in 2011, although the two have remained on good terms.

© Axelle/Bauer-Griffin (FilmMagic)

The same year she finalized her first divorce, in 2011, Wilde met the man who would become the father of her two children: actor Jason Sudeikis (from 'Ted Lasso'). The two met at a 'Saturday Night Live' party, where Sudeikis was working at the time, and went on to build a family with their children, Otis and Daisy.

In November 2020, after several years together and a long engagement, they ended their relationship, setting off a custody dispute that would later make international headlines. In April 2022, during a film industry convention in Las Vegas, Wilde was interrupted onstage when a person approached to hand her legal documents related to the custody case.

Although Sudeikis maintained that he had no knowledge of how or when the papers would be served, Wilde described the incident as “incredibly traumatizing.”

© BG026/Bauer-Griffin (GC Images)

In her day-to-day life, Wilde is often spotted on the streets of New York wearing far simpler outfits, the kind that are easy for ordinary women to take inspiration from. The look pictured here is a perfect example: a blazer, a basic T-shirt, an oversized bag, trousers and sneakers.

It is the sort of outfit anyone might wear to the office or while running errands.

© Frazer Harrison (WireImage)

On the red carpet, Wilde has also earned international attention for her distinctive sense of style. Her looks strike a balance between understated elegance, as seen in this high-necked black Saint Laurent gown with structured shoulders, and a more daring sensibility, whether through sheer fabrics or outfits that showcase her sculpted midriff.

Tailored suits are another staple of her wardrobe, further proving her flair for sharp suiting. The architect behind a style that has grown increasingly sophisticated and eye-catching over the years is Karla Welch, who also styles Tracee Ellis Ross and Sarah Paulson.

© Valentina Frugiuele (Getty Images)

The actress is also a favorite of fashion houses with markedly different aesthetics, including Chloé (pictured here in one of the brand’s designs), Saint Laurent, Michael Kors, Louis Vuitton and Valentino.

Her regular appearances at international fashion weeks, particularly in Paris and New York, have made her one of the celebrity names every brand wants seated in its front row.

© Stephane Cardinale - Corbis (Corbis via Getty Images)

Earlier this October, Wilde answered the call of fashion’s designer and label of the moment, stepping out in an updated tweed suit by Matthieu Blazy for Chanel. Elegant yet contemporary, the look demonstrated how her trademark bohemian, '70s-inflected style can also take a decidedly classic turn.

It seems that for Wilde, neither in fashion nor in life, much is beyond reach.
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Who capped Ukraine’s Starlink? “Ultimately POTUS,” Musk said. Ultimately Musk, reports now say

✇Euromaidan Press
By: Zoriana Katola

musk, trump

Elon Musk ordered the speed cap on Starshield, the military version of SpaceX’s Starlink network that Ukraine’s drones rely on, The Wall Street Journal reported on 20 October. Earlier, Musk said that such limits are decided by the US military and “ultimately POTUS.” Speaking to reporters in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, on 20 October, according to WSJ, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said, “We haven’t made any directives or anything like that,” CBS News reported.

For a week, no one with a hand on the system said the decision was theirs. Musk pointed to the US military and the president, and Trump said he did not know who it was. Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials said the cap has hampered the drones they use to intercept Russian Shaheds and to strike Russian forces in occupied territory. Kyiv says the cap remains in place, and at about 160 km/h it makes intercepting jet-powered drones and missiles that fly about twice as fast virtually impossible.

Musk spoke with administration officials, including Trump, before the cap, a source says

Musk capped the speeds at which Ukrainian hardware could stay connected to the network, people familiar with the matter told WSJ. The slowdown, which began on 14 October, left some of Ukraine’s strike and interceptor drones virtually useless, WSJ said.

WSJ’s sources differ on Trump’s role. Some US officials said Musk acted on his own and that Trump did not specifically order any retribution against Ukraine. One person said Musk spoke with several senior administration officials, Trump among them, before imposing the cap. Two people said Musk and Trump discussed the decision by phone soon after the slowdown became public.

During the uproar, SpaceX representatives called White House counterparts. They asked for a shared message that the company and the administration had coordinated before Musk’s directive, the people said. The White House ran an informal inquiry into who ordered the slowdown, WSJ said.

Musk held several conversations with administration officials before the order to understand the president’s thinking, CBS reported, citing sources. He dislikes his company being seen as profiting from the war, and it is unclear how his order was carried out, CBS said.

Hegseth points to Starlink’s terms of service

Hegseth said the US had not pulled anything back. He said Starlink “has the option” to make decisions under its terms of service, and that from the Pentagon’s view nothing had changed, CBS reported.

Speaking to reporters as he left the White House on 16 October, Trump said he did not think either he or Musk was responsible, The Telegraph reported. On 19 October, he said, “I don’t know who it was, but I’d like to find out.”

Last week, a bipartisan group of senators asked the Pentagon’s inspector general to investigate whether officials “directed” or “authorized” changes to Starlink and Starshield services and intelligence sharing affecting Ukraine.

Earlier reports pointed at the White House

On 15 October, Reuters reported that the order came from inside the White House. The officials said Pentagon leaders received a message that the Starshield service for Ukraine’s military needed to be slowed, but did not say who made the decision or who carried it out. A senior US official said “No such request was ever made by the president.”

On 16 October, The Telegraph reported, citing four sources, that Musk approached Trump with the idea of the speed limits. One of the sources said Trump agreed.

Analysts and Kyiv say the cap is still in place

Michael Kofman, a war analyst at the Carnegie Endowment, said, according to WSJ, that Ukrainian strike and interceptor drones remain limited to 160 km/h. He said actual connections run below 130 km/h, which still hampers strikes and air defense.

On 20 October, Ukraine’s top diplomat in Washington, Denys Sienik, said Kyiv was still waiting for answers from the Pentagon and SpaceX, WSJ reported.

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