Florence Pugh reflects on see-through Valentino dress: 'How can my nipples offend you that much?'
The British actor's also commented on her previous relationship with Zach Braff, saying 'people didn't like it'
Florence Pugh has addressed the abuse she received after wearing a sheer Valentino gown last year that exposed her breasts.
The actor, 27, wore a fuschia pink Valentino to the fashion house’s couture show in Paris last year, a dress she conceptualised with designer Pierpaolo Piccioli.
After posting a picture of herself in the gown to Instagram, Pugh received a slew of vitriol from followers, with some trolls even suggesting she “deserved to get raped” for exposing her nipples.
“If I’m happy in it, then I’m gonna wear it. Of course, I don’t want to offend people, but I think my point is: How can my nipples offend you that much?” Pugh told Vogue in a new cover interview.
“It’s very important that we do this,” the Don’t Worry Darling actor added. “I know that some people might scoff at me saying that, but if a dress with my breasts peeking through is encouraging people to say, ‘Well, if you were to get raped, you would deserve it,’ it just shows me that there’s so much more work to do.”
Pugh revealed that part of her body confidence came down to how she was raised by her parents.
Read more: Florence Pugh's best looks, as she turns 27
“We were always naked as kids,” she admitted. “We are human, we are bodies. Yes, I can put make-up on and look good for a premiere.
"But at the end of the day, I still have hair on the top of my lip and I still smell after a workout and I still get spots when I’m stressed. I think that attitude definitely has trickled down from when I was a child.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Pugh comments on the end of her relationship with Zach Braff.
The pair, who have a 20-year age gap between them, began dating in 2019 before separating some time in 2022.
“My breakup has been very new, so I’m figuring that out,” she said, adding of the criticism the pair received: “We weren’t in anyone’s faces. It was just that people didn’t like it.
“They imagined me with someone younger and someone in blockbusters. I think young relationships in Hollywood are so easily twisted because they add to the gossip sites. It’s exciting to watch. And I think I was in a relationship that didn’t do any of that.”
Read more: Florence Pugh wows in sheer white gown at LA ball after statement see-through looks
It’s not the first time Pugh has addressed the sheer-dress drama. Speaking to Harpers Bazaar last year, she said: “I was comfortable with my small breasts. And showing them like that — it aggravated [people] that I was comfortable.”
Watch: Zach Braff calls ex Florence Pugh a 'legend'