Zach Braff calls Florence Pugh a ‘legend’ on 27th birthday post-split
Don’t worry darling, they’re still on good terms.
Zach Braff called ex-girlfriend Florence Pugh a “legend” in a post celebrating her 27th birthday on Tuesday — despite having been broken up for nearly five months.
“Happy birthday, legend,” the “Scrubs” alum, 47, captioned a photo of the birthday girl via his Instagram Story.
In the black-and-white snap, the “Little Women” star can be seen sitting atop Mount Lee overlooking the Hollywood sign and taking in the spanning view of Los Angeles.
Pugh looked cozy in a striped T-shirt, leggings and running sneakers, with her hair pulled back in a casual ponytail.
The actress also celebrated her birthday by reminding fans of her big day in a few posts shared to her own Instagram Story Monday night.
“Tomorrow’s not just any day…,” she wrote in one snap, adding in another, “In case anyone needed reminding…It’s a very special national holiday tomorrow. #rd of January Florence Pugh Birth Day.”
Pugh confirmed she and Braff called off their relationship in August 2022 after nearly three years of dating.
“We’ve been trying to do this separation without the world knowing, because it’s been a relationship that everybody has an opinion on,” Pugh told Harper’s Bazaar in her September 2022 cover story. “We just felt something like this would really do us the benefit of not having millions of people telling us how happy they are that we’re not together.”
She added, “So we’ve done that. I automatically get a lumpy throat when I talk about it.”
Pugh also spoke about how difficult it is to navigate dating — or anything, for that matter — in the public eye.
“Whenever I feel like that line has been crossed in my life, whether it’s paparazzi taking private moments, or moments that aren’t even real, or gossip channels that encourage members of the public to share private moments of famous people walking down the street, I think it’s incredibly wrong,” she said.
“I don’t think that people, just because they have this job, that every aspect of their life should be watched and written about. We haven’t signed up for a reality TV show.”
At the time of their split, a source told Page Six that their love was doomed because Pugh’s career was taking off while Braff’s was falling behind.
“I know that Flo was head over heels for Zach — they both were wrapped up in each other — but it’s a bit of a ‘Star Is Born’ kind of thing: She’s on the up and he’s kind of plateaued in the industry. She’s super hot right now and everyone loves her,” the movie industry insider said.
But the source added, “From what I know, she’s devastated that it’s over.”
The former pair’s relationship had been plagued with harsh criticism over their 20-year age gap.
The backlash was so rampant that Pugh was forced to clap back at a hater in 2019 when she confirmed they were dating.
Page Six broke the news just months earlier when the duo was spotted looking cozy at a Hollywood Whole Foods in October 2019.
“It was very clear to me that they’re a couple,” a source told Page Six at the time.
