Reese Witherspoon Says A Director Sexually Assaulted Her When She Was Just 16

#MeToo is intended to shed a light on sexual assault. Like I’ve said before, there are some truly heartbreaking stories, but the trend is so broad that some women are using it to complain about catcalls.

No. Rape and catcalls don’t belong in the same category. I have a major problem with that.

At this point, it seems like everyone in Hollywood has been sexually assaulted in some way. Other actresses are slowly coming out. The latest story comes from Reese Witherspoon.

She’s speaking out.

During an event in Hollywood Monday night, Witherspoon revealed that a director sexually assaulted her when she was just 16 years old. To make matters worse, she said leaders in the industry made her feel like staying silent was a condition of her employment. If she said something, she’d be throwing her career into the trash.

‘[I feel] true disgust at the director who assaulted me when I was 16 years old and anger at the agents and the producers who made me feel that silence was a condition of my employment,” Witherspoon said, according to Daily Mail.

That wasn’t the only incident, either.

“And I wish that I could tell you that was an isolated incident in my career, but sadly it wasn’t. I’ve had multiple experiences of harassment and sexual assault and I don’t speak about them very often,” she said.

“But after hearing all the stories these past few days and hearing these brave women speak up tonight about things that we’re kind of told to sweep under the rug and not to talk about, it’s made me want to speak up and speak up loudly because I actually felt less alone this week than I have ever felt in my entire career,” she added.

She definitely shouldn’t feel alone. It seems like EVERY actress has a story.

“I have just spoken to so many actresses and writers, particularly women, who have had similar experiences and many of them have bravely gone public with their stories,” Witherspoon said. “That truth is very encouraging to me and everyone out there in the world because you can only heal by telling the truth.”

“I feel really, really encouraged that there will be a new normal,” she continued. “For the young women in this room, life is going to be different because we’re with you, we have your back and it makes me feel better.”

That’s the thing. Will there be a new normal? I’m not so sure about that. Hollywood has allowed that kind of behavior for years. There are other stories. Jennifer Lawrence said she was forced to stand in a “naked line-up.” It shamed her into losing weight.

In her own speech, the Hunger Games star revealed she was once forced by a female director to partake in a naked line-up with five other women, who were ‘much, much skinnier’ than her.

 

She then revealed she was asked to use the incident to lose weight, revealing onstage: ‘After that degrading and humiliating line-up, the female producer told me I should use the naked photos of myself as inspiration for my diet.’

Horrifying. Who would push their kid into that industry?

So sure. Everyone’s condemning Harvey Weinstein right now, but what about the other known pervs in Hollywood, huh? Why are people like Kate Winslet willingly working with them? It’s so hypocritical.

That’s why I’m not confident that things will change.

h/t Daily Mail