Florence Pugh Opened Up About Defending Her Relationship With Zach Braff And The Double Standard Between Men And Women

"Women's lives, the moment they get in that spotlight, is being completely devoured by people."

Florence Pugh just got real about her thoughts on the double standard between men and women, particularly in the entertainment industry.

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Speaking to Sue Perkins on the An Hour or So With... podcast, Florence said women's lives are "completely devoured" by the public from the moment they get famous, a level of scrutiny that isn't given to men.

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"Women's lives, the moment they get in that spotlight, is being completely devoured by people," she said. "It's totally allowed because for some reason the public feel like it's their right to know stuff about them."

"But the same attention to detail doesn't happen to men," she added. "I've always found that really interesting, and how you're supposed to just put up with it."

As an example of the scrutiny she finds herself under, Florence opened up about her relationship with Scrubs actor Zach Braff, which she's defended on multiple occasions after receiving "horrid" comments online about their 21-year age gap.

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Back in April, Florence was forced to respond to criticism of the relationship, posting a video where she said: "I'm 24 years old. I do not need you to tell me who I should and should not love. It is not your place and really it has nothing to do with you."

"People have no right to educate me on my private life," she later said in an interview with Elle. "I know that part of being in the spotlight is that people might invade your privacy and have opinions on it, but it's bizarre that normal folk are allowed to display such hate and opinions on a part of my life that I'm not putting out there."

Speaking to Sue on Wednesday's episode of the podcast, Florence further opened up about the criticism, explaining that it was yet another example of "making a young woman feel like shit for no reason".

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She said: "I've always found it funny, how I can be good enough for people to watch my work and support my work and pay for tickets and I'm old enough to be an adult and pay taxes, but I'm not old enough to know who I should and should not have sex with, once again making a young woman feel like shit for no reason."

"I think I did feel shit for a while about admitting that," she continued. "Then I thought how ridiculous is that? I'm 24 and I can't choose who I love."

Saying that there "was a reason" she wasn't dating someone closer to her own age, Florence explained that being famous often blurs the lines of what the public think they're entitled to but that she was "glad" she spoke up about the criticism she'd been receiving.

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"People want to have a say on who you go out with, where you go for lunch," she said. "For me, I've always found that part of this life, even when I grew up watching actresses, I've always found that weird how people have a say over your private life."

She added: "I'm not a reality TV star, I don't let people into my life like that so since when has it been OK for someone to shout at someone for their relationship? It's crazy to me."

As a result of constant speculation and scrutiny, Florence revealed that she doesn't use Twitter because she doesn't have "the emotional thick skin" to deal with the negativity.

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"I think for me, what's interesting is it's not even stuff that’s directed at me that I get upset by," Florence said. "I just get so irritated by how wrongly used the internet is and how there is such an amazing opportunity to make it epic and amazing and kind."

You can listen to Florence's full interview on the An Hour or So With... podcast here.