When the news broke on Friday May 14th that John Mulaney had started dating Olivia Munn only days after his divorce was announced, the internet had many questions — how did the relationship come about (yes, in a church, but like … how)? Was there any pre-divorce overlap? Is this the latest iteration of the Pete Davidson Effect?
But mostly, who is Olivia Munn?
And when Olivia Rodrigo was the musical guest on SNL on Saturday May 15th, audiences then wondered, who is Olivia Rodrigo? And are either of these Olivias the one who is dating Harry Styles?
The answer is no, they're not. Here's the breakdown:
Olivia Wilde is the lucky Olivia dating Harry Styles. The actress and director is most recently known for her work on Booksmart and for the awkward award season shoutouts from her ex Jason Sudeikis … whom she left for Harry. She and Harry have been kind of off the radar recently, save for the few pics we occasionally get from the set of her upcoming directorial effort My Policeman, but by all accounts they're still going strong.
Olivia Munn is an actress known for films like X-Men Apocalypse and Predator. She is also a passionate activist and over the past year, she has been active on social media talking about the rise in AAPI hate alongside her experiences as an Asian American woman in Hollywood.
Olivia Rodrigo is the 18 year old Disney star known for her unprecedented hit "drivers license," an emotional breakup ballad which she followed with "deja vu" and "good 4 u," more uptempo break-up bangers. The singer and actress will be releasing her debut album sour on May 21st and fans are looking forward to even more songs about her break up with fellow Disney star Joshua Bassett (who kind of has a crush on Harry Styles? It always comes back to him, huh...).
But these aren't even the only famous Olivias! There's also Culpo, Coleman, Holt — oh my! So with the recent Oliva mix ups, stans of each respective Oliva have taken it upon themselves to draw the line.
Followers of the popular Instagram celebrity gossip account, Deuxmoi, predicted the incoming Olivia mix ups even before they occurred (Deuxmoi fans are among the most powerful people on the internet… IYKYK).
Some people on Instagram even made posts parodying Instagram infographics to bring awareness to the important topic of discussion:
There is comfort in knowing that we weren't the only ones confused, lost in the abundance of Olivias. But the cycle of celebrity confusion is a tale as old as time.
Only months ago did the Chris confusion culminate in a definitive battle to determine which Hollywood Chris is superior (the official Popdust stance is that Chris Pratt is definitely the worst, but a case can be made for any of the other three: Chris Pine for his quarantine bookstore excursions; Chris Hemsworth for his biceps; and Chris Evans for his twitter "mishap" and DMs with Lizzo about said mishap) — in short, in was a #WhiteBoyWinter.
For women in Hollywood, there seem to be constant mix ups, and not just among actresses who share the same name; the confusion ranges from mix ups due to their race, hair color, or countless other arbitrary reasons. And this is all mostly because of the industry's tendency to objectify women as "types" expected to look pretty and not much else.
But in the wake of Framing Britney Spears and the way social media has changed how we view celebrities, especially young women, fans are in the driver's seat now, and fandom is becoming less and less about idolizing people for the unattainable standards they set, and more about genuinely celebrating people's work and personas.
So we wish each and every Olivia the best, and we wish ourselves the wisdom to know the difference.