Reese Witherspoon as revealed she was once in an abusive relationship.
The 41-year-old actress – who is now married to Jim Toth, with whom she has five-year-old son Tennessee – has admitted that leaving the past relationship, in which she was allegedly ‘psychologically and verbally’ abused, had a ‘profound’ affect on her.
When asked what the most difficult task in her life has been, Reese – who also has 18-year-old daughter Ava and 14-year-old son Deacon with her ex-husband Ryan Phillippe – said: ‘For me, probably leaving an abusive relationship.
In the March issue of O, The Oprah Magazine—which features Witherspoon, Mindy Kaling, and Oprah Winfrey on the cover—the Big Little Lies actress said: ‘A line got drawn in the sand and it got crossed, and my brain just switched and I knew it was going to be very difficult but I just couldn’t go any further. But it was profound and I was young.’
This comes after the Oscar winner said she was assaulted by a director when she was only 16-years-old.
New: Reese Witherspoon was joined by Mindy Kaling and Oprah Winfrey on the March cover of O, The Oprah Magazine; inside, she shared she was in an ‘abusive relationship’ when she was younger
Time for change is right! The cover was called The New Superheroes. The women are promoting their new film A Wrinkle In Time
The magazine cover includes a big question presented in big bold font asking, ‘Where do we go from here?’ which is immediately followed with, ‘What we know for sure: Things between men and women will never be the same.’
The Legally Blonde actress revealed that she first began to confront her past trauma in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal in Hollywood.
Winfrey opened up the conversation by disclosing a personal discussion she previously had with Witherspoon: ‘You said that you, and several other actresses you knew, were having trouble sleeping because it was so hard listening to these accounts.
Good friends: The blonde starlet shared this heartwarming Instagram photo in January and praised the former talk show host for her talents
‘I said, ‘Gee, that sounds like you’re having some symptoms of PTSD,’ and your eyes started to water.’
The Academy Award winner replied with, ‘Yeah, I remember that. All those things I thought I had dealt with a long time ago, I hadn’t dealt with.’
The Walk The Line actress continued: ‘A lot of these women with stories are my very dear friends, like Salma Hayek and Gwyneth Paltrow.
Serene in green: The Walk The Line actress donned a gorgeous gown at the 24th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards last month in Los Angeles
Movie time: Their new film is A Wrinkle In Time from Disney, which comes out March 9
‘These are some of my closest friends and colleagues, and I had known their experiences were difficult, but I had never understood the depth of the harassment.
‘I was just floored, and then I realized, ‘This is the moment to tell what happened to me when I was young. This is the moment where healing begins.”
Her rock: She has been married to Jim Toth for the past seven years; seen in 2017
Reese said her own abusive relationship altered the way she looked at the world, and herself.
She said: ‘It changed who I was on a cellular level, the fact that I stood up for myself. It’s part of the reason I can stand up and say, ‘Yes, I’m ambitious.’ Because someone tried to take that from me.’
Witherspoon’s ability to admit that she was ‘ambitious’ was a huge feat for the actress, who said she was demeaned for channeling the word.
Oprah addressed this issue and asked, ‘Reese, a speech of yours went viral a few years ago. You proclaimed that for women, ‘ambition is not a dirty word.’ That felt like a call to arms. Why do you think your speech struck such a cord?’
The Gone Girl producer immediately replied with a statistical fact: ‘A Columbia University study found that people considered an ambitious woman more selfish and less worthy of being hired than an ambitious man.’
She shared that owning up to the word ‘ambitious’ helped empower her: ‘I thought, We need to start reframing this word, ambition. Because it isn’t about being selfish, it’s about wanting to create more and do better for communities, schools, the world.’
Ambitious: The feminist producer posed in the press room with her award at the 69th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles during late 2017
The Cruel Intentions actress also discussed the assault she experienced when she was a teenager, and reflected on her inability to speak up back then.
She revealed: ‘The understanding was that remaining silent was the condition of our employment. Do you want to work? Do you want to get ahead? Then you don’t talk.
‘But the rules have changed. And with Time’s Up, we’re making sure they’re changing for everyone—by providing legal and financial support to women in any workplace who have been harassed and are ready to speak up about it.’
‘Join me!’: Witherspoon has been a staunch supporter of the Time’s Up movement, which advocates against women’s harassment and discrimination
‘Why I wear black today’: The Academy Award winner wore black in support of Time’s Up at the 2018 Golden Globe Awards in Los Angeles and revealed one reason for it via Instagram
After years of silence and pain that she experienced from previous trauma, Witherspoon has managed to confront her past and achieve happiness by empowering other women and helping them tell their narratives.
‘For me, one major issue is women’s stories, and creating opportunities for women to tell their stories, which is why I started my production company, Pacific Standard. We cannot expect change in our society if we see only the same movies by the same 20 male directors.
‘It’s been my mission over the past five years to create better parts for women, and also opportunities for women of color, of different generations, to tell their stories in any capacity. Whether they’re taking photographs or doing podcasts. Just shine a light on those people,’ she said.
Winners! Actors Laura Dern, Nicole Kidman, Zoe Kravitz, Reese Witherspoon and Shailene Woodley kissed their awards for Big Little Lies at the 75th Annual Golden Globe Awards press room in Beverly Hills last month
The award-winning actress continued: ‘We don’t have compassion unless we see stories through other people’s eyes, and we need a broader range of storytellers.
‘They have to be women, people of color, LGBTQ. The storytelling has got to be more balanced. I truly believe that art is the antidote.
‘When you see something from another perspective, stand in another person’s shoes, that’s what creates empathy, in my experience.’
Track star! On Tuesday, the Legally Blonde star was spotted happily chatting on the phone in Santa Monica while wearing a comfortable blue and white sporty outfit
Witherspoon certainly looked happier on Tuesday as she was spotted running errands in Santa Monica while talking on her cell phone.
She wore a sporty outfit consisting of a zipped up blue and white track sweater, with blue sweat pants.
The actress completed her ensemble with white sneakers and dark sunglasses.