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‘Legally Blonde’ cast Reese Witherspoon meets for 20th anniversary
‘Legally Blonde’ star Reese Witherspoon brought the cast of the classic comedy together for a special charity meeting to air this week.
Bang Showbiz, Bang Showbiz
Reese Witherspoon is talking openly about the pay gap in Hollywood.
In a new episode of the “HFPA in Conversation” podcast, released on Christmas Day, journalist Margaret Gardiner reminded Witherspoon of an incident at the 2002 Oscars, when the actress presented the best makeup with her then husband, Ryan Phillippe.
Witherspoon asked Phillippe if she could read the winner. “You earn more than I do. Go ahead,” he replied.
“I forgot it happened,” said Witherspoon on the podcast. “He said that, and no, it wasn’t scheduled. He didn’t tell me he was going to say that before it happened on the air. So I was a little confused at the time.”
Witherspoon went on to say that although “gender norms have changed a little” in the past two decades, the few women in Hollywood who earn “a lot of money” are still “ashamed” of it.
“Sometimes they are expected to give more, do more and be more to others in the same position as perhaps a male movie star is not expected,” she said.
The Oscar winner, who split from Phillippe in 2006 after seven years of marriage, recalled a time when her daughter, Ava, 21, was in second grade. She was “so ashamed” when a colleague commented that Witherspoon was one of Hollywood’s highest-paid actresses, the “Legally Blonde” star said.
“I said, ‘Never be ashamed of a woman making money,'” Witherspoon said. “There are women all over the world who have no opportunity, neither education, nor the ability to make money. The more women make more money, the more money they donate, care for their societies, care for their communities, will do more with that money.”
Witherspoon, 44, has been prolific in front and behind the camera for the past year and a half, starring and producing series like Apple TV’s “The Morning Show”, Hulu’s “Little Fires Everywhere” and the second season of “Big Little Lies” from HBO. “
Earlier this year, she announced that she would reprise her role as the beloved Elle Woods in “Legally Blonde 3”, with a screenplay by Mindy Kaling and “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” co-creator Dan Goor.