Florence Pugh has told trolls that they have no right to comment on her relationship with Zach Braff. The Little Women star shared a tribute to her boyfriend on Monday as they celebrated his 45th birthday - but was shocked when she received abuse minutes within posting.
In the lengthy statement, Florence, 24, began by saying she hoped fans were 'still well and healthy, and safe', before admitting she had been 'wrestling with the idea for the past few days about whether I should do this video.’ But Florence told followers she decided to speak out for her own ‘peace of mind’.
The Midsommar actress continued, ‘On Monday I posted a photo in honour of Zach's birthday, and I wrote a birthday message for him. Within about eight minutes of the photo being posted I had about 70 people in the comments hurling abuse and being horrid, and basically bullying someone on my page.’
'It is the first time in my entire Instagram life that I've had to turn off the comments on my page,’ she added. ‘I have never been an Instagram page that encourages that, I have never been an Instagram page that likes that toxic vibe. I have only been an Instagram page that tries to bring some light and tries to be positive, and tries to make people smile.'
She then reminded fans that it’s more important than ever to support each other. 'I will not allow that behaviour on my page, I'm not about that,’ she said. ‘It makes me upset, it makes me sad that during this time when we really all need to be together, we need to be supporting one another. We need to be loving one another, the world is aching and the world is dying and a few of you have decided to bully for no reason.'
Going on to refer to their 20-year age difference, Florence added: 'I'm 24 years old, I have been working since I was 17-years-old, I have been earning money since I was 17-years-old, I became an adult when I was 18-years-old and I started paying taxes when I was 18-years-old, I underline this fact, I am 24-years-old. I do not need you tell me who I should and should not love, and I would never in my life ever tell anyone who they can and cannot love.’
She continued: 'It is not your place, and really it has nothing to do with you, so if those rules are something that you do not like then please unfollow me because the abuse you throw at him is abuse you're throwing at me and I don't want those followers, and I don't want to have to be protecting my comments every time I post a picture of him.
'I really hope that I can continue this relationship with a lot of you, and I can keep on cooking and I can keep on dancing, and I can keep on singing, but I don't want that on my page.'
READ MORE: Florence Pugh: The Little Woman On The Verge Of Stardom