🎙️ Voice is AI-generated. Inconsistencies may occur.
Olivia Wilde's salad dressing recipe that she shared from Nora Ephron's 1983 novel Heartburn was likely a strategic move amid cheating allegations.
The Don't Worry Darling director, 38, took to her Instagram Story earlier this week to post an excerpt from the late writer's autobiographical novel, which included directions for how to make a "very strong" vinaigrette.
The photo seemingly referred to the Daily Mail's report from her former nanny, who detailed the breakdown of her relationship with her ex, comedian Jason Sudeikis.
According to the anonymous nanny, she worked with the former couple and their children—son Otis, 8, and daughter Daisy, 6—for three years. She claimed that the A-listers' romance ended when Wilde started dating pop star Harry Styles.
The nanny recalled a specific incident where Wilde allegedly prepared dinner for the "Watermelon Sugar" singer, 28, which included a salad with her "special" dressing. Sudeikis, 47, allegedly got so upset, however, that he "went outside and lay under her car so she wouldn't leave."
The nanny also alleged the Ted Lasso star drunkenly fired her without severance pay.
Wilde and Sudeikis began dating in 2011 and got engaged in 2013, though they never made it down the aisle. The pair split in 2020.
Following the allegations, the exes released a rare joint statement denying all of the claims.
"As parents, it is incredibly upsetting to learn that a former nanny of our two young children would choose to make such false and scurrilous accusations about us publicly," the actors said in the statement, obtained by Newsweek.
"Her now 18-month long campaign of harassing us, as well as loved ones, close friends and colleagues, has reached its unfortunate apex. We will continue to focus on raising and protecting our children with the sincere hope that she will now choose to leave our family alone."
Eprhon's book Heartburn is a fictional depiction of her real-life marriage and divorce from journalist Carl Bernstein—who is best known for his reporting on the Watergate scandal that ultimately led to President Richard Nixon's resignation in 1974.
Ephron and Bernstein were married from 1976 to 1980. In 1979, Bernstein had an affair with Margaret Jay, the daughter of British Prime Minister James Callaghan.
Ephron died in 2012 at the age of 71 from pneumonia brought on by acute myeloid leukemia.
According to an overview of the book, per Amazon: "Heartburn is a roller coaster of love, betrayal, loss and—most satisfyingly—revenge."
After Wilde and Styles got together, rumors started swirling of an overlapping timeline with her long-term relationship with Sudeikis. That said, the House actress shut down cheating speculation in an interview with Vanity Fair.
"The complete horses*** idea that I left Jason for Harry is completely inaccurate," she told the magazine in its October 2022 issue. "Our relationship was over long before I met Harry."
Ilana Kaplan, a writer and editor who is currently working on a book about Ephron, told Newsweek that Wilde's Instagram post held a specific meaning.
"Heartburn could be interpreted in a variety of ways, depending on if you're seeing it through the lens of Rachel or Mark," Kaplan said, referring to the main characters from Ephron's novel.
Kaplan then gave two reasons as to why Wilde likely felt compelled to share the message.
"She's either trolling us with this salad dressing recipe (commenting on the absurdity of our parasocial relationship with her and the media), or this is actually the recipe she used, and she was trying to shut things down and also be funny," Kaplan explained, noting: "She succeeded in the latter."
About the writer
Megan Cartwright is Newsweek's Deputy Entertainment Editor, based in London, U.K. Her focus is on U.S. pop culture and entertainment ... Read more