Reese Witherspoon candidly shared that she had to “rewire my brain” after leaving her abusive relationship of the past.
“You fall into a relationship that doesn’t work for you, and sometimes you don’t even see the dynamics that are happening,” the “Morning Show” star said during a Saturday appearance on the New York Times’ “Interview” podcast.
“It took me a while to reconstruct myself when I got out of there. My mind was diminishing because I thought all the terrible things people said about me were true. I had to rewire my brain.”
Despite working through trauma, the actress remembers that she is “really unsettled” long after the relationship ends.
“It took me a long time to become this woman I am,” continued Witherspoon, 49. “It’s very difficult to become a public figure. I have a lot of compassion for people who live their public lives and maintain their privacy.”
“At this point, it’s almost impossible for everyone to dehumanize you and take a picture of you like a zoo animal rather than a person with children. It’s really tough, it’s hard to be a mother and want to protect the young people,” she added.
The “Sweet Home Alabama” star previously opened in an interview with O Magazine in 2018 about how she left her psychological and verbally abusive ex.
“The lines were drawn in the sand, and it crossed, and my brain was switched,” Witherspoon said of the moment she decided to leave. “I knew it was very difficult, but I couldn’t go any further. It was profound, I was young, really young.”
“I couldn’t be who I am today. I was another person too. I changed someone at mobile level. The fact that I stood up for myself.”
“I’m another person now. That’s part of the reason why I can get up and say, ‘Yes, I’m ambitious.’ Because someone tried to take it from me,” she said.
Witherspoon is currently dating German investor Oliver Haarman. She previously married Jimtos from 2011 to 2023.
Before her relationship with Toss, she married Ryan Phillip and welcomed her daughter Ava and her 21-year-old son Deacon from 1999-2007.
