Jennifer Lawrence Was Called ‘Fuckable’ And Reese Was Assaulted At 16. More Celebs Open Up.

The internet for the past few weeks has been flooding with stories of assault and violence. Starting with the Harvey Weinstein scandal. Fifteen brave, Hollywood actors shared their horrific tales of rape, assault, and violence against the producer.

The revolution that ensued was even more hard-hitting. With #MeToo flooding the internet space, stories of regular people are coming into light. People who haven’t spoken, people who were silenced for speaking are finally raising their voice in solidarity. What it is proving is that- it is so common, almost all of us have faced it as a part of our daily lives and it needs to change now.

Joining the momentum at the Elle Women in Hollywood event, actors Jennifer Lawrence and Reese Witherspoon got candid. Both the renowned performers spoke about their personal accounts of sexual abuse as budding actors.

According to Vanity Fair both the actors took their time on stage to talk about their frightful experiences in the media industry. The fact that it’s so common really shows the world that sexual abuse in Hollywood isn’t limited to Weinstein. It’s an epidemic which needs to be weeded out root by root and we shouldn’t stop and be satisfied by just cutting down one tree.

In an Elle report, Oscar-winning Lawrence recounted a harrowing experience as a budding star. The producers of an unnamed movie had asked her to lose weight and she said that a previous actor had already been fired for not losing weight fast enough. She said,

“During this time, a female producer had me do a nude lineup with about five women who were much, much thinner than me. And we all stood side-by-side with only paste-ons covering our privates.”

“After that degrading and humiliating lineup, the female producer told me I should use the naked photos of myself as inspiration for my diet.”

After this traumatic experience, she approached the producer of the film to look into the casting process and his response to her was that he didn’t understand why everyone thought she was fat. He thought that she was “perfectly fuckable.”

JLaw also realised that as a budding actress and a regular girl she didn’t have the power to shut her abuser down. But suddenly once she donned the Katniss Everdeen persona her “no” carried a lot more weight.

Reese Witherspoon also spoke about her own ghastly experience during the event according to Elle. She talked about how it has been a difficult week for women in Hollywood, women all over the world and even men in situations. She said,

“A lot of the feelings I’ve been having about anxiety, about being honest, the guilt for not speaking up earlier or taking action.”

 “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.”

She also said that it wasn’t an isolated incident in her career and has faced harassment and sexual assault multiple times. She was inspired by the stories of women who have been sharing their stories loudly. She also said that she felt less alone this week than she ever has in her career.

It’s heartening to see women joining hands and speaking up together. The sheer number of stories that have come up is a wake-up call for all. We thank Lawrence and Witherspoon for lending their platform to uplift women everywhere.