Reese Witherspoon said Monday that she was assaulted by a director at 16 and that she had faced "multiple experiences of harassment and sexual assault" during her Hollywood career, according to Elle magazine.
The Academy Award-winning actress made the charges during a speech at the Elle Women in Hollywood event, the latest revelation of sexual harassment and abuse charges made since the Harvey Weinstein scandal broke two weeks ago.
Witherspoon talked about her experience before introducing Laura Dern at the event. Witherspoon and Dern starred together in the award-winning HBO series "Big Little Lies" this year.
"True disgust at the director who assaulted me when I was 16 years old and anger that I felt at the agents and the producers who made me feel that silence was a condition of my employment," Witherspoon said in her remarks according to Elle.
"And I wish I could tell you that 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, but after hearing all the stories these past few days and hearing these brave women speak up tonight, the things that we're kind of told to sweep under the rug and not talk about, it's made me want to speak up and speak up loudly because I felt less alone this week than I've ever felt in my entire career."
Revelations about sexual harassment and abuse charges surrounding Weinstein, one of the most powerful movie executives in Hollywood this month, were detailed in stories by The New York Times and New Yorker magazine. It has led to a flood of women coming out telling their stories of how they have been treated by powerful men in the industry.
"And I've just spoken to so many actresses and writers, and particularly women who've had similar experiences, and many of them have bravely gone public with their stories," Witherspoon continued. "And that truth is very encouraging to me and to everyone out there in the world because you can only heal by telling the truth."
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