Reese Witherspoon
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Reese Witherspoon and her media company Hello Sunshine hosted their first Shine Away event on Saturday, which included a series of conversations with Witherspoon’s high-profile friends and collaborators.
The event took place in downtown Los Angeles and welcomed hundreds of guests with tickets to listen to attendees including Jennifer Garner, Mindy Kaling, Tracee Ellis Ross, Allyson Felix, Clea Shearer and Joanna Teplin of The Home Edit, Eve Rodsky, Hannah Bronfman, Cheryl Strayed and a matinee by Dove Cameron.
Fortune Feimster opened the day with a short stand-up set, followed by Witherspoon taking the stage to talk about her journey to launching Hello Sunshine in 2016. She remembered how few women-centered stories she saw back then, even though women consumed two to three times more media than men.
“After a lot of thinking and complaining to anyone who would listen, especially my mother, I realized what so many people in this room have realized: If you want to solve a problem, you have to be part of it the solution. I would also like to point out that women are always part of the solution,” she said, noting, “We are tired of people telling our stories for us. One of the most important rules in my family is that you can tell your own news, and a version of that in Hello Sunshine terms is that women can tell their own stories.”
The star also commented on holding the event amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, saying: “I am a mother first and foremost, and to see how many Jews and Palestinians have lost their lives is simply devastating.” And I maintain not to be any expert on wars or conflicts in the Middle East, so I won’t talk about it, but I want you to know that my team and I’s hearts are broken. We just want to close our eyes and say hello to everyone on the “Send love and light to the world that is suffering right now.”
Earlier in the day’s programming, Witherspoon joined Garner and Kaling in a panel discussion moderated by AT&T Chief Marketing Officer Kellyn Smith Kenny. Due to the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike, the group was unable to speak specifically about their past projects, but rather their entrepreneurial and philanthropic work outside of acting, as well as their friendship.
Witherspoon recalled approaching Kaling about collaborating after reading her book “Why Not Me?” and growing closer to Garner after pitching her through a children’s charity.
“These two women are two of the first people I called when I made Hello Sunshine. I thought, ‘Will you work with me, how can we work together?’ I pitched Mindy 17 podcasts that we’ve never done before. I was like, ‘What about this movie where we just watch a romantic comedy and drink wine?’ Is this a podcast or is this like a Friday night?'” Witherspoon joked. “And of course, every time I read a great book, I called Jen like, ‘Do you want to be in this?’ OK, but Jen, I say, “I want to protect your time with your kids because I know you’re going through a lot right now, and it’s a lot. So is that good or not? It was just about the excitement of being able to work with my favorite friends too.”
For her part, Garner recalled “going through a very public, very difficult moment in my life; [Witherspoon] was right there, and I had to get through it by dancing cardio, and I danced cardio so hard that we broke her foot, but she kept going.” Kaling recalled working with Witherspoon on a film in which she brought up the idea of having children as a single woman, and Witherspoon told her to do it.
“It’s a scary thing to go into, and sometimes you need that person. I think we see Reese as an entertainer, she’s obviously so funny and so talented, but as a friend she’s the person who can tell you difficult things and have you believe her because you’ve been through so much and are incredibly open about it.” said Kaling. Garner also spoke about Hollywood actresses who met at Witherspoon’s house during the Time’s Up movement: “It was the first time I sat in the same room with so many actresses that we didn’t feel like we were with one Walking past each other at the awards ceremony in big dresses showing where we were sitting. We were isolated; The only place that isn’t happening, the place where the change started, where it can’t happen anymore, is Hello Sunshine.”
Witherspoon also discussed her approach to choosing her projects, saying she came to the realization that “I’m not meant to make dark, violent, intense horror, gore and dark films.” People enjoy watching me easy films and I thought: OK. It doesn’t get you into the cool kids club often, but I don’t care, I don’t want to be in the cool kids club. I want to do optimistic things that make girls excited about being women in this world, because being a woman in this world is a wonderful thing.” Kaling teased, “BJ Novak says it’s not a Mindy Kaling show, Unless there’s a shirtless man walking in slow motion.” And you know what? I’ve become so used to the male gaze my entire life that I will look at a nice torso. And that’s what I want to offer you.”
Later in the show, Witherspoon sat down for a fireside chat with Ross after the two also grew close during the Time’s Up movement. Ross discussed her decade-long journey to starting her hair care product company, Pattern Beauty, and how she finds balance in her life outside of business and her acting career.
“When you’re single and don’t have kids, you have to be really clear about what you want around you if you want to be happy, otherwise you’ll just stay at home or just hang out all the time.” works – both work not,” Ross said. “I’m not looking for balance, because I think it’s impossible, but for harmony. So it’s a feeling of how the waves move: sometimes they’re big, sometimes they’re small. Sometimes there is more work, sometimes there is less.”
Admitting that she tries hard to find balance outside of work, Witherspoon explained, “I’m a person who fills my schedule with busyness, so I feel less alone, less nervous, less restless, as if.” “Work has always been my bombshell.” And I realized that wasn’t going to work for me; About a year ago I thought, ‘I was a robot and the robot broke.'”
The star said she texted Ross at that point and realized that with all her work and family responsibilities, “it’s really important to remember that you have to be the glue that holds yourself together.” , adding, “I didn’t do that back then. “I feel like I took very good care of myself and didn’t ask other people for help.”
The Shine Away event was hosted in collaboration with AT&T and also welcomed Lindsey Vonn, Kerri Walsh Jennings and authors Curtis Sittenfeld, Jasmine Guillory and Laura Dave.