Reese Witherspoon Says Awards Speech Caused Fallout With an Actress – Hollywood Reporter
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JANUARY 28: Reese Witherspoon attends the "You're Cordially Invited" New York screening at Jazz at Lincoln Center on January 28, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)
Subscribe for full access to The Hollywood ReporterSubscribe for full access to The Hollywood ReporterIn an interview, the ‘You’re Cordially Invited’ actress shared that to this day she’s “haunted” by a roast she gave for a famous actress at an awards ceremony.
By
Lexy Perez
Associate Editor
Reese Witherspoon is opening up about a famous actress who is no longer speaking to her over a speech from her past.
In an interview with People magazine published Thursday, the You’re Cordially Invited actress shared that to this day she’s “haunted” by a speech she made for a famous actress at an awards ceremony. She did not name the actress.
“It literally haunts me. So this friend of mine, who I didn’t really know that well but she was a very serious, proper actress, she asked me to give her an award. But I had never been to this award ceremony, so I thought it was like a roast. So I got up and I roasted her,” Witherspoon shared.
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Witherspoon described the “tone” of the ceremony being “British and elegant and classy,” which was a departure from what she originally thought it was going to be.
“And I was like, ‘Remember the time we got laser hair removal?!’ I’m still embarrassed about it,” she admitted.
Witherspoon said that since the speech, the actress no longer speaks to her.
“We’re not friends anymore. I’m not even kidding — we’re not friends anymore,” she said. “I think she doesn’t like me anymore. I thought it was so funny and it was just, I had the wrong audience. It was pretty bad. Yeah. Not even kidding, she doesn’t talk to me anymore. Oh well.”
Despite Witherspoon not naming the actress, internet sleuths have pinpointed the speech Witherspoon talked about, suggesting it was to Kate Winslet at the BAFTA/LA Cunard Britannia Awards in November 2007.
The Hollywood Reporter has reached out to Winslet’s team for comment.
The speculation is not the first time Winslet’s friendships have been discussed. In a 2023 interview, Melanie Lynskey also opened up about drifting apart from Winslet, who was her once-close friend and Heavenly Creatures co-star.
“When I lost touch with Kate, it was more heartbreaking than some breakups that I’ve had,” Lynskey said on the Happy Sad Confused podcast at the time.
“It was so painful because it wasn’t like anything happened, it’s just she became a gigantic international movie star and she didn’t have a lot of time,” she added. “I wouldn’t hear from her, you know, and it just sort of like gradually happened, and it happens in relationships. People kind of drift apart, but it was so painful for me.”Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every daySign up for THR news straight to your inbox every daySubscribe for full access to The Hollywood ReporterSend us a tip using our anonymous form.
