Florence Pugh Says ‘I Was Never Scared’ of Backlash Over Supporting Palestine and ‘I Don’t Know Why It Took So Long’ for Hollywood to ‘Start Talking’

Florence Pugh revealed in an interview with Vanity Fair that she has likely lost hundreds of thousands of followers on social media over the last few years because she is so outspoken in support of Palestine. The Oscar nominee has routinely shared links for humanitarian aid to Palestinians and made headlines last September for her surprise appearance at the Together for Palestine fundraising event, where she told the crowd: “Silence in the face of such suffering is not neutrality. It is complicity.”

“I don’t know why it took so long for people to start talking and for people to actually feel sympathy,” Pugh now told Vanity Fair for being somewhat ahead of the curve in Hollywood when it comes to supporting Palestine . “But no, I was never scared of it. And I think weirdly, because so many people actively weren’t [speaking up], that made me even more confused — and kind of probably even more in the right to talk about it.”

Per Vanity Fair: “She says that nobody on her team ever advised her to keep quiet on the subject and expresses gratitude for the people who helped her make it to Together for Palestine even though the concert conflicted with production on ‘Avengers: Doomsday.'”

“It’s still happening, though,” Pugh added. “Babies are still dying. Mothers are still in pain. It’s really horrible to be watching such pain when so much of our lives just seem to be moving forward. I think that’s what I’ve found so difficult about social media as well: How can I say I’m having a really good time when literally one scroll up, I’m looking at a baby that’s motherless and fatherless?”

The Pugh-attended Together for Palestine event raised more than $2 million for humanitarian organizations. The concert bill featured Gorillaz, King Krule, Brian Eno, PinkPantheress, Cat Burns, Bastille, James Blake, Sampha and more.

“Empathy should not be this hard and it should have never been this hard. I’m just going to leave that with you,” Pugh also said at the event. “Enjoy the rest of your evening, pressure on the governments and well done for being here.”

Head over to Vanity Fair’s website to read Pugh’s latest profile in its entirety.