Reese Witherspoon has revealed for the first time how an abusive relationship early in her career profoundly affected her self-esteem and confidence. The “ The Morning Show ” star shared her experience on a Sept. 20 episode of The New York Times podcast, The Interview, describing it as a difficult and challenging period that required a profound personal transformation.
"I had to reprogram my mind," she said. "My soul was hurt because I started to believe all those horrible things that person was saying about me. I needed time to rebuild myself."
Witherspoon confessed that, even though she managed to leave the abusive relationship, the emotional consequences continued to haunt her.
"When you're young, you get into relationships that aren't good for you, and you often don't immediately understand the dynamics that are happening."
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Because of the profound impact of this experience, she felt the need to get back to herself and invest in her mental and emotional health. Now, as a mother of three, Ava, Deacon, and Tennessee, she says she has worked hard to build the strong version of herself she is today.
“It took me a long time to become the woman I am now,” she said in an interview with journalist Lulú García-Navarro. “It is extremely difficult to be a public figure and at the same time maintain privacy.”
Witherspoon also highlighted the constant pressure that public figures feel in the age of social media:
"I have a lot of compassion for people who live in the public eye and try to have a private life. It's almost impossible now, you feel like you're an animal in a zoo, not a person who's just spending time with the kids or having a personal moment."
