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Florence Pugh is taking a stand.
The Little Women star responded via video to the ‘horrid’ bullying she and boyfriend Zach Braff have been getting over their 21-year age gap.
Florench Pugh and Zach Braff are no strangers to criticism about their relationship.
Ever since they started dating in April 2019, the internet has had something to say about it.
This is due to the pair’s significant age gap (Pugh is 24, Braff is 45).
They first encountered online hate this past December when Braff commented on one of the ‘Little Women’ stars photos.
“First pit-stop, Matzo Ball soup,” she wrote, adding the hashtag “#curingjetlag101.”
The Scrubs alum saw it and commented a princess emoji on the photo.
This caused one of Pugh’s followers to rudely write, “you’re 44 years old.”
Pugh wasn’t going to stand for someone pointing out their age difference and criticizing it.
“And yet he got it ??” Pugh clapped back.
That’s not the only time they’ve had to defend their relationship.
Recently, Florence had to deal with insane backlash on the birthday tribute she posted for Braff.
During the coronavirus pandemic, the couple has been social distancing together.
“Today we shall smile wider than the clouds are grey. April 6th and we’re celebrating hard! Happy Birthday wishes, boogies and cheers for this special person. Raise those bubbles and jiggle!” she captioned the sweet pic.
Soon, the comments got so negative that the actress was forced to turn them off.
Since then, she’s taken a final stand against the haters.
On Wednesday, she posted a video on Instagram, asking people to stop their “hateful” behavior towards her relationship.
“On Monday, I posted a photo in honor of Zach’s birthday and I wrote a birthday message underneath,” she began.
“Within about eight minutes of the photo being posted, I had about 70 percent of the comments hurling abuse and being horrid — basically bullying someone on my page,” Pugh said.
“It is the first time in my entire Instagram life that I’ve had to turn off the comments on my page.”
She continued:
“I’ve never been an Instagram page that encourages that. I’ve never been an Instagram page that likes that toxic vibe.”
She said that she wants her page to be one that “brings light” and “makes people smile.”
“I will not allow that behavior on my page. I’m not about that. It makes me upset,” she said, before going on to reference the coronavirus pandemic.
“It makes me upset that during this time when we need to be together … the world is aching and the world is dying, and a few of you decided to bully for no reason.”
“I’m 24 years old,” she said sternly.
“I am 24 years old. I do not need you to tell me who I should and should not love and I would never in my life tell anyone who they can and cannot love,” Pugh said.
“It is not your place,” Pugh added, before encouraging those who have a problem with this to unfollow her.
She continued:
“The abuse that you throw at him is abuse that you are throwing at me, and I don’t want those followers. I do not 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.”
Thankfully, the reaction to Pugh’s video was actually positive.
In addition to fan love, she got sooo much support from fellow celebs.
“You are simply the best,” wrote ‘The Kissing Booth’ actress, Joey King.
Model, Stefania Ferrario, could relate to the significant age gap.
“My partner is 22 years my senior and we have been together almost 7 years. Love is a diverse beautiful thing and I hope more people open their minds up a little more.”
Ariana Grande even commented!
“oh i love and appreciate u so much,” the singer added, her comment raking up over 16,000 likes.
In the end, love prevails for Florence and Zach <3
To catch the full clip, you can watch it here !
