Florence Pugh asks why men are 'so scared of breasts' after she wore a sheer dress to a fashion event

• Florence Pugh responded to men who commented on her wearing a sheer Valentino gown on Friday.
• The British actor was among the star-studded crowd at the Valentino Haute Couture show in Rome.

Florence Pugh called out "vulgar" men commenting on her body and asked them why they are "so scared of breasts" after she wore a sheer gown to the Valentino Haute Couture show in Rome on Friday.

In an Instagram carousel post shared by the "Black Widow" actor on Sunday, Pugh wrote that she anticipated a response to the outfit she chose for the runway show but was excited to wear it nonetheless. Her stylist, Rebecca Corbin-Murray, credited the design — which included see-through tulle and a halter-neck style — to Valentino's creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli in an Instagram post.

"Not a wink of me was nervous," Pugh, 26, wrote of wearing the dress. But, she added, it has been interesting to witness "just how easy it is for men to totally destroy a woman's body, publicly, proudly, for everyone to see."

Continuing the caption for her post, which has over 1.4 million likes and over 18,100 comments as of Monday, the British actor called out "vulgar" men who she wrote were "aggressively" sharing their views about her body.

A post shared by Florence Pugh (@florencepugh)

"It isn't the first time and certainly won't be the last time a woman will hear what's wrong with her body by a crowd of strangers, what's worrying is just how vulgar some of you men can be," Pugh added.

"So many of you wanted to aggressively let me know how disappointed you were by my 'tiny tits', or how I should be embarrassed by being so 'flat chested,'" she wrote. "I've lived in my body for a long time. I'm fully aware of my breast size and am not scared of it."

Pugh, who added a "free the nipple" hashtag to the bottom of the caption, then directly asked: "Why are you so scared of breasts?"

For her ability to handle the body-centric commentary, she gave credit to the way she was raised. "I'm very grateful that I grew up in a household with very strong, powerful, curvy women. We were raised to find power in the creases of our body," she wrote.

Pugh's post also garnered attention from celebrities like Jameela Jamil, Aubrey Plaza, Nicola Coughlan, and Dan Levy, who left messages of support in the comments.

"You are truly so amazing. You put into words what so many feel but can't articulate," Joey King, star of "The Kissing Booth," commented.

It's not the first time that Pugh, who has also spoken out about dealing with unsolicited opinions about her relationship with Zach Braff, has called out commentary about her body and online bullying.

In an interview with The Sunday Times in July 2021, she spoke about an experience early in her acting career during which she was told to drop some weight, which Pugh said was something that was "so un-me."

"I was a baby and I thought that was Hollywood," she said. "And I thought, OK, this is how it works here. This is what they do. And then I felt stupid because I thought, well, of course, how could I come to LA and not have expected to have my weight discussed in a meeting?"

During the same interview, she also called out online bullying. "It's so weird to me to go on to someone's page and shit on it," she said. "I don't mind you not liking me, that's absolutely fine. In which case don't follow me."

Representatives for Florence Pugh did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.