Reese Witherspoon recalls "bursting into tears" after release of "offensive" magazine caricature

If you remember TIME Magazine's 2015 feature titled "Hollywood's New Domestic Divas," which showcased Reese Witherspoon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jessica Alba, Blake Lively and Lauren Conrad all edited to look properly housewifey, then you're probably cringing at the thought just as you did then.

The editorial had Witherspoon sporting an apron and vacuuming, Paltrow with a freshly baked cake in hand, Alba with an iron, Lively stirring, and Conrad cleaning, in heels and ball gowns all the while. It was unsightly, profiling their new respective businesses as "peddling the ephemera of their domestic bliss" and was, of course, written by a man.

While appearing on Monica Padman and Kristen Bell's podcast We Are Supported By this week, Witherspoon recalled the story and the graphic, whilst thinking of a moment in her incredible career that left her in tears.

"I think it was 2015," she says on the episode. "I had started a clothing business. Gwyneth was really growing Goop. Blake Lively had a business, Jessica Alba had a business. And they did a caricature cartoon of all of us. We were in ball gowns, and they stuck our heads on. And Jessica was holding an iron, and I was holding a vacuum cleaner. The whole thing was so offensive that I burst into tears."

Witherspoon added, "It was in a massive publication, and I've since been in that publication, and they said sorry, but I'm not even talking about 10 years ago. I'm talking about 2015 when we decided we're going to be entrepreneurial, we were going to do something, take a swing, invest our own money, our own time, our reputation and try and do something that George Clooney has done, Robert De Niro has done, and getting lampooned for it."

The trio went on to discuss how women are faced with "staying in their lane" when they attempt to branch out or shift career paths.

"That message to little girls is if you've had success in one area, you can't have success in another," Witherspoon said. "I just think it's so limiting. Media can be so punishing."

On paper, yes, but Witherspoon is, of course, a highly talented multi-hyphenate, who not only continues to act (and collect endless nominations for doing so), but is a highly sought after producer, establishing her own media company, Hello Sunshine, which includes a film and TV production company, a VOD network, and women's book club. It's gifted us Big Little Lies, The Morning Show, Gone Girl and more.

Founded in 2016, the company is valued at $900 million, and was sold to a media firm backed by private-equity group Blackstone Group, Inc. just weeks ago, according to The Wall Street Journal.  

Meanwhile, Paltrow, Alba and Conrad have also grown their respective lifestyle brands and companies into similarly big businesses, to the point that it's come to define their careers.   

Domestic who?

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