#Reese Witherspoon Recalls Sobbing Over ‘Offensive’ Magazine Caricature That Called Her A ‘Domestic Diva’

In a recent interview on the We Are Supported By… podcast, the 45-year-old actress opened up to Kristen Bell and Monica Padman about the barriers she has faced as a woman in a male-dominated industry like business. And when they got onto the topic of “women staying in their lane,” she specifically called out the tone-deaf Time magazine article from 2015 that caricatured several celebrity entrepreneurs — including herself, Gwyneth Paltrow, Blake Lively, and Jessica Alba — and referred to them as “Domestic Divas.” Witherspoon said:

“I had started a clothing business. Gwyneth was really growing Goop. Blake Lively had a business, Jessica Alba had a business and they did a caricature cartoon of all of us. We were in ballgowns and they stuck our heads on, and Jessica was holding an iron and I was holding a vacuum cleaner. The whole thing was so offensive that I burst into tears.”

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And this sexist image was only six years ago! So much hate. Even though the Cruel Intentions star said the publication apologized, it ultimately goes to show the major cultural issue that needs to be “course-corrected.” She explained:

“I’m not even talking about 10 years ago. I’m talking about 2015 when we decided, OK we’re going to be entrepreneurial, take a swing, invest our own money, our own time, our own reputation and try to do something that George Clooney has done, Robert De Niro has done — and getting lampooned for it. That message to little girls is: ‘If you’ve had success in one area, you can’t have success in another.’”

Still, Reese insisted there was an upside to the story. The Legally Blonde alum claimed that the article highlighting women branching out into different fields actually inspired others to do the same:

“There’s several women who’ve said acting is not for me: ‘I don’t want to be an actress anymore. I want to do things that are entrepreneurial and want to have a different kind of life for my family.’ Media can be so punishing, and I think it’s a great thing that we have other ways to get other information [online]. It’s wrought with misinformation and all sorts of complications but there’s a lot of good that came out of it too. Women talking more about art, politics, culture, finance, so important.”

What is sad about this story is that something like this still happens all of the time. Women are constantly criticized for doing the same thing as their male counterparts or even belittled for their success — which is frustrating as hell! Good on Reese for speaking out about it! And get your coin, ladies!