Getting served legal documents doesn’t exactly sound like the most pleasant experience in the world, though it also doesn’t sound like the worst. But getting served legal documents from your high-profile ex while in the middle of a presentation at work, with photographers and an audience of outsiders taking it all in? That’s different. And Olivia Wilde has handled that exact situation with more grace than I ever could.
On Tuesday, April 26, Wilde was handed a mysterious manila envelope while onstage presenting at CinemaCon in Las Vegas. According to Deadline, the envelope contained legal paperwork regarding her custody agreement with ex-fiancé Jason Sudeikis. The pair, who split in 2020, share two children: eight-year-old Otis and five-year-old Daisy.
Wilde was at the event to promote her second project as a director, Don’t Worry Darling, starring Harry Styles and Florence Pugh. According to The Hollywood Reporter, a woman approached the stage carrying the envelope with the words “personal and confidential” written on the outside, and handed it to Wilde.
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – APRIL 26: Director and actress Olivia Wilde speaks onstage during the Warner Bros. Pictures “The Big Picture” presentation during CinemaCon 2022 at Caesars Palace on April 26, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Greg Doherty/Getty Images)Greg Doherty
The actor and director remarked on the “very mysterious” envelope, adding that she was “going to open it now because it feels like it’s a script,” according to People. After opening it, she replied, “Okay, got it. Thank you.”
An “insider” told THR that 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.”
Following the incident, CinemaCon told THR it had plans to “reevaluate its security protocols” in order to protect its studio partners and the talent who participate in the event every year. Mitch Neuhauser, managing director of the National Association of Theatre Owners and head of CinemaCon, emphasized that “never in the history of the event” had a similar incident taken place.
