Florence Pugh Has a Message for Critics of Her Relationship with Zach Braff

Florence Pugh sees the comments people are leaving about her relationship with Zach Braff, and she’s not here for it.

For some reason, Pugh’s fans are incensed by (and vocal about!) the age gap between the 24-year-old actress and her 45-year-old actor boyfriend. The aggression reached a breaking point earlier this week, when the Little Women star shared a photo and tribute to Braff on his birthday.

The vitriol that collected in the comments section led Pugh to post a video for her followers on Wednesday night. “Within about 8 minutes of the photo being posted, I had about 70% of the comments hurling abuse and being horrid,” Pugh explained. “It’s the first time in my entire Instagram life that I’ve had to turn off the comments on my page.” The actress laid down the law, telling fans, “I will not allow that behavior on my page. I’m not about that.”

“I’m 24 years old — I do not need you to tell me who I should or should not love,” she continued. “It is not your place. If those rules are something that you do not like, then please unfollow me. The abuse you throw at him is abuse you’re throwing at me, and I don’t want those followers.”

RELATED: This $5 Mascara Is the Secret to Florence Pugh’s Red-Carpet Looks

Though she and Braff are notoriously private about their relationship, this isn’t the first time Pugh has addressed critics of her personal life on social media. Back in December, after Braff left the princess emoji on a photo Pugh had shared of herself, a commenter responded to Braff with, “you’re 44 years old.” In turn, Pugh responded to said commenter with, “and yet he got it.”

The actor duo seemingly met at some point in 2018 when Braff cast Pugh in his short 2019 film In the Time It Takes to Get There. They’ve reportedly been dating for about a year.