The 'Morning Show' actress says her dismay at bad script demeaning women fueled her determination to create a space for female stars, producers, and authors.
- September 18, 2021
AceShowbiz - Reese Witherspoon took a deep dive with her media company after reading a terrible script featuring characters who demeaned women.
The Oscar winner quickly became a power player in Hollywood after launching Hello Sunshine in 2016 as an outlet for female actors, producers, and authors and she reveals the spark that started the project came from a bad screenplay she was sent.
"When I started the company I was just seeing this lack of roles for women that were powerful and I was really seeing very few women behind the scenes... and I thought, 'What can I do about this?' " she tells "The View".
And it was a script she remembered from 2012 that tipped her over the edge.
"I've read so many bad scripts in my life but there was just this particular one that had two roles for women; it was filled with jokes about women and women's boobs and I was like, 'This isn't funny!' and my agent was like, 'Every actress in Hollywood wants these parts,' and I thought, 'If this is what people are competing over, we've gotta do better than this.' "
Reese recently sold Hello Sunshine to a new media giant backed by bosses at private equity firm the Blackstone Group.
The actress and producer confirmed the deal, stating, "I'm going to double down on that mission to hire more female creators from all walks of life and showcase their experiences. This is a meaningful move in the world because it really means that women's stories matter."
It marks the first media venture for the private-equity giant. Other recent purchases by Blackstone Group officials include the Bellagio resort in Las Vegas and genealogy site Ancestry.com.
Witherspoon will join the board of the as-yet-unnamed new company, alongside her CEO Sarah Harden.
