An animal rescue group has issued a statement in defense of Olivia Wilde after claims circulated that she abandoned her dog to spend more time with boyfriend Harry Styles.
The Los Angeles-based animal rescue organisation from which Olivia Wilde adopted her golden retriever, Gordon, has defended the director’s decision to “re-home” her pet. The statement comes after a former nanny made several claims about Wilde and her former partner, Jason Sudeikis, in a wide-ranging Daily Mail interview.
MaeDay Rescue took to Instagram on Sunday to share several photographs of “Gordy” as a puppy, adding in the caption: “Well, you may have seen Gordy in the news lately and we want to set the record straight.”
The animal rescue shelter explained that Wilde had adopted the golden retriever at two months old back in 2018. The organisation said that “after giving him much love and training and travel adventures, [Wilde] realised that Gordy didn’t love the travel life and wasn’t happy around toddlers.”
They wrote: “Gordy had formed a very strong bond with his dog walker and in Gordy’s best interest and after much thought and consideration, he was rehomed to his Brooklyn dog walker.”
MaeDay Rescue also revealed that the Don’t Worry Darling director called the animal shelter to discuss her decision to re-home the dog, and praised Wilde as an animal rescue advocate.
“We pride ourselves on finding that perfect forever home for our Maeday animals and every once in a while the animal is just happier in a different environment and that’s okay,” they said. “Olivia is a huge animal rescue advocate and rehomed Gordy out of compassion and love for him.”
The post continued: “We felt like we should share this because we hate that the media is painting a Maeday adopter in a bad light. Thanks for adopting @oliviawilde and for being a responsible pet owner.”
The statement comes just one week after Olivia Wilde and Jason Sudeikis’ former nanny made several shocking claims about the former couple in an interview with the Daily Mail, including that Wilde gave her dog Gordon away within weeks of meeting Harry Styles so she would “free up more time to spend with him.”
“After [Wilde] left [at the start of November 2020], she came for a visit and said, ‘We have to find Gordon a new home’, nonchalantly,” the former nanny claimed.
Following the interview, Wilde and Sudeikis issued a joint statement to People, adding that the former nanny had been on an “18-month-long campaign” of harassment.
“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 statement read. “Her now 18-month-long campaign of harassing us, as well as loved ones, close friends and colleagues, has reached its unfortunate apex.”
They concluded: “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.”
Wilde and her ex-fiancé Sudeikis, share two children: son Otis, eight, and daughter Daisy, six.
The Bones alum has previously denied rumours that she ended her nine-year relationship with Sudeikis after sparking a romance with Styles on the set of Don’t Worry Darling. In an interview with Vanity Fair last month, Wilde said, “The complete horses*** idea that I left Jason for Harry is completely inaccurate.”
“Our relationship was over long before I met Harry. Like any relationship that ends, it doesn’t end overnight. Unfortunately, Jason and I had a very bumpy road, and we officially dissolved the relationship towards the beginning of the pandemic.”