Reese Witherspoon says she rewired her brain after abusive relationship
Witherspoon discusses the emotional toll, rebuilding herself and reclaiming ambition in a New York Times interview
Reese Witherspoon said she had to 'rewire' her brain after an abusive relationship, describing the emotional toll and the resilience required to rebuild herself. In a weekend appearance on The New York Times podcast The Interview, the Legally Blonde star, 49, spoke candidly about how the experience shaped her behind the scenes and influenced her approach to work and family.
She explained she was 'very good at being a professional and showing up and doing the right thing' but 'wasn't emotionally mature when I was young,' and that leaving the relationship was only the first step, as she faced ongoing challenges while trying to 'reconstitute' herself. 'My spirit had been diminished because I thought all those awful things that person said about me were true. I had to rewire my brain,' she said. The star has previously described the relationship as psychologically and verbally abusive in a 2018 interview with O Magazine.
Witherspoon has said that reclaiming her sense of ambition is tied to surviving that dark chapter. 'I'm a different person now, and it's part of the reason I can stand up and say, Yes, I'm ambitious,' she noted. She also acknowledged lingering self-doubt and the strain of privacy under constant public scrutiny, describing how difficult it can be to be photographed and perceived in ways that dehumanize her as a mother.
The conversation touched on becoming a young mother at the height of her career after welcoming daughter Ava in her early 20s, just before Legally Blonde turned her into a household name. She described navigating a delicate balance between family and career, noting there were roles she would not take in order to protect her family and her privacy.
Today, Witherspoon, who runs Hello Sunshine, is dating German financier Oliver Haarmann. She is mother to Ava, 26, and Deacon, 21, with ex-husband Ryan Phillippe, and Tennessee, 12, with ex-husband Jim Toth. The discussion underscores a broader narrative about resilience, motherhood, and the pressures of life in the public eye.