Reese Witherspoon is not your America’s Sweetheart. Maybe she was at one time, but that ended as soon as she drunkenly mouthed off to a police officer in Georgia. Ever since then, she’s been “leaning in” to her new persona of the anti-sweetheart. Perhaps she’s always been this person and now she’s just owning it more and more. So, should we hold that against her? Does every woman have to aim to please? Does every wife have to be dutiful and submissive? Not at all. But would it hurt to be mildly pleasant to your husband’s coworkers?
Maybe the devil really does wear Prada. That’s certainly the sentiment going around CAA’s offices when Reese Witherspoon drops by.
“Reese is anything but sweet,” says a source inside CAA, where Reese’s husband Jim Toth is a high-powered agent. But while the CAA crew is accustomed to their fair share of A-list visits, Reese is the only one making employees scatter with her icy attitude.
“The staff are terrified of rubbing her the wrong way, so they bend over backwards to please her!” admits the insider, revealing that Reese always likes her favorite brands of tea, bottled water and juice to be on hand. But don’t expect to receive a please or thank you. “She won’t ever take off her sunglasses because she doesn’t want anyone to make eye contact.”
Jim Toth “doesn’t want his coworkers to see it, because he’s such a bigwig. He wants the staff to think that he has the upper hand but it’s obvious she wears the pants.”
[From Star Magazine, print edition]
We should note that Reese is also a CAA client, in addition to being the wife of one of the major agents. I would imagine all of the CAA employees have to scurry around to meet every whim of one of their A-list clients, and it gets a little bit extra when that client is married to one of the agents. But still, can’t you see it? Reese comes storming in, still wearing her sunglasses, and hisses at the first peasant, “Iced tea, NOW.” She takes in the room and snaps, “You do not meet my gaze, bitch.”
And in case you’re wondering about the validity of Star’s assessment of Jim and Reese’s marriage, just take another look at Reese and Jim’s arrest video and how Jim is flat-out embarrassed by Reese’s crazy, drunk diva behavior. She’s the mess and he’s the enabler/handler.
Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame/Flynet.
I’m not a fan but this sounds kinda like BS to me.
I went to school with her, seems pretty on point to me!
I totally believe it! I heard from the producer of the Avon commercials and she said Reese was a major bitch. She once got hellbent when a crew member said hello to her kids. Hearing how she made other people’s lives hell, people who are there to make her look good, I can’t stand her.
What’s Up- was this the girls’ school? A friend went there the same time as Reese but was much younger. They lived in the same neighborhood and she said Reese was unpleasant even back then. She had done at least one movie at that point.
Really? I always suspect she is like a hair away from a lawsuit by one of her nannies or housekeepers about some kind of awful treatment. Even before the arrest, she seems mean to me.
I don’t doubt she’s a royal b#$%h, I just think the details of this particular story read like BS. They just strike me as contrived to fit the accepted narrative about her. Who knows.
Me, too. She wears sunglasses indoors “so she won’t have to make eye contact?” How do they know that’s the reason?
Agree. Her “demands” are simply ridiculously high-school compared to MImi’s.
I think Reese is not the only star to have a favourite brand of water and tee and cucumber sandwiches. And the other clienst get what? Tap water? Or they bring their own tee in their own Thermos…
Agree that the details sound ridiculous but I still choose to believe this story because I strongly dislike her.
I call bs too..anyone with any inside knowledge knows the first job at caa, or any agency, is kiss up to every client..stroking egos is their business.
Mimi would laugh at the amateurishness of these diva demands. As for the rest… as a huge client and the wife of one of the most powerful agents at CAA, I would think it was a given that people are bending over backwards to keep her happy. Keeping her favorite drinks on hand is a pretty mild demand. And it’s not exactly breaking news that Reese isn’t a very friendly lady.
@Esmon: I’m with you. I’ve also heard this story before. A few years back I read a negative article about Nic Cage that claimed that whenever he went to an event his handlers would arrive before him to inform the organizers that no one was to look Mr Cage in the eyes.
They’re not the only ones – some years ago, Madonna attended the Toronto Film Festival to promote her latest movie and all the employees and workers were instructed to never, ever look at her directly. As for Reese – the expression “nose in the air” fits her perfectly. In just about every picture I’ve seen of her (except where she is socializing with other celebs) that is exactly what she does.
I totally believe this too!
It’s too bad, and it’s SUCH a disappointment to find that she truly is not the sweetheart we all thought she was. The article is right on–Ever since the cop incident, I realized that Reese is much less than I had hoped for, but her husband, Jim, seemed like the one with the sense and maturity. And now this article, which makes her seem like just another spoiled, entitled, arrogant actress. She probably NEEDS Jim Toth around to make her look sensible when she is just not. Yes, Reese has been in a number of good films, but she’s not over-the-top talented, in my eyes. Neither is she over-the-top in the looks department. I just saw “Wild” and was somewhat disappointed. It feels like I could have waited to see it on DVD, not that great. Well, can I say she’s off my list permanently for those actresses I deem talented and also authentic? In fact, I think that after the drunken arrest debacle, her publicists made her do lots of damage-control by showing up publicly and doing interviews to try and bring back her shocked audience. Not working for me, though.
I’m pretty sure Reese has always been this person, we were just taken in by the sweet on-screen persona of almost every role she has played. I would deliberately try to piss her off if I worked there.
If Reese barked at you ” what are you staring at?” The best response is to look her up and down slowly then say” Nothing much” and walk away. I bet her head would explode
Snap!!!
That would feel so satisfying from the unemployment line.
#hairflipbye
I swear, if I ever see her in in LA, I’m going to say out loud, “I am an American citizen, and I can do whatever I want!”
(I hope I’ll also be drunk at the time).
Can’t stand her debutante complex, her entitlement. Raised as a princess and never got over it. Uugh.
These pictures of her…the nose in the air, the smirk…Gah. She makes me stabby.
Although seeing that she has unintentional Resting Bitch Face as she ages seems like karma. I like that.
She is truly awful.
Yes, exactly. RW always struck me as more the entitled, two-faced, strategically vicious type of person who’s only mean to people of lower social status. When it comes to interacting with people of equal or greater status, she’s all sweetness and sparkles. Maybe she even thinks of herself as a nice person because she’s nice to her own children and immediate family…but that’s not really how niceness works.
Being nice means being nice to everyone.
If it’s Star, it’s probably not true.
I can see her not being super sweet to everyone all the time, but this sounds made up.
Yup. These stories are so common, and usually about a woman. Because all powerful women are bitches, you know. Now, Reese may indeed be a bitch, but doesn’t mean this Star garbage is truth.
Silly question, but what is all this nonsense of no “eye contact”? I have heard of other celebrities making demands like this. If you don’t like people staring at you when you are speaking to them , maybe you are in the wrong business.
It’s a sign of submission, that you are beneath them.
It also requires actual contact with the person, perhaps even conversation.
To be honest, I can see why celebrities out in public avoid eye contact. First you don’t know who the hell these people are, and then they’d want to talk to you, etc.
Now requesting coworkers not make eye contact with you is totally different (including your husband’s coworkers or employees at a firm where you’re a client). I agree that it’s a hierarchy thing and done by someone who thinks they’re all that and a bag of chips.
Imagine having to smile and people and say,”hi!” The horrors! Especially when they pay $15 to see your latest movie. (Kind of seems like it comes with the job.)
They don’t want you to see their demonic eyes (slit pupil(-s) ).
For the sake of speculation; maybe they have Asperger’s syndrome and don’t feel comfortable with eye contact. It’s quite common with Aspies.
I have no idea if any of the stories are true, but I hear them all the time. I imagine that it must drive you crazy to constantly have people stare at you wherever you go, and either whisper, try to take a picture, or come up a demand an autograph, no matter what you are doing. I know they chose this life, but I think I have more sympathy than most. I think it would make you feel like an animal in a zoo. However, it is probably also combined with constantly being surrounded by sycophants and believing that whatever crazy demand you make is justifiable.
I never got that either. Having your favorite brands of tea at hand at least sounds practical. But what’s to gain from avoiding eye contact?
This fan fiction would have better if it had been about Blake Lively and Preserve.
I haven’t seen this video before. Her Southern accent really comes out when she’s drunk. As for the Star story, there’s probably a grain of truth to it but it is Star. I can still imagine your scenario. “Iced tea, now!”
This is how I know the story is made up; Reese is from the south obviously and we don’t ask for “ice tea” down here. She would say “sweet tea.” Huge difference!
I’m a Nashvillian and haven’t drank sweet tea in 20 years. I would ask for Iced Tea. Also, with her local reputation, I’d believe it.
Southerner also. You’d only ask for sweet tea if you wanted sugared tea. Some of us Southerners don’t drink sweet tea so we’d just ask for iced tea. But as an expat Southerner I can tell you that you NEVER order iced tea if you’re not in the South because it’s never right. It’s just watery brown stuff or, heaven forbid, green or raspberry!
I am a life long Texas girl. I have always referred to it as “iced tea”.
The only time I ask for “sweet tea” is at Grady’s. Where they actually sell both unsweetened and sweeten versions.
And I want the one packed with SUGAR! 🙂
But yea… Reese has been a nightmare from the get go. And that little DUI arrest in Georgia. Showed off exactly who she is in her daily life. Not a nice lady. At all.
I suspect Ryan Phillippe has an incredible vault of stories on her. So yes, I believe she is a nightmare to deal with at CAA.
And one day soon, Jim Toth will also have a vault of stories to share with Ryan Phillippe. As they sit at the soccer game watching their kids.
In NC, we order iced tea. I can’t stand the sweetened kind.
Nashvillian as well and I always order “unsweet tea” everywhere I go. Otherwise the default generally — not everywhere, but generally — is to serve sweet tea and that stuff is crap.
I’m from the TN/VA region, and we just have (iced) tea. When we order, it’s usually an even split between the sweet and unsweet drinkers.
I wonder why Ice T never released his own range of Ice Tea? Seems like a missed opportunity .
Speaking as a brit, the USA can’t make a decent cuppa of any sort, sweet, iced or otherwise. Great country, crap tea. Disappointed if this is true, I think Reese is an excellent actress. Btw, surely we should be past using phrases about “wearing the trousers” .
How do people like this end up married? I’m not just talking about women, I’m talking about a**hole men as well. How do they find a significant other???
I’ve wondered the same thing when I see someone being a complete as* to their significant other, people can be so mean! I’ve thought about purposely being a b*tch just to see what I could get away with, but I don’t have it in me, lol.
YES! I agree with both you guys. Jess, I don’t have it in me either, but HOW do these people end up married and nice people…legitimately nice men and women…have a hard time finding a spouse.
A friend once observed that some of the biggest jerks (male and female) sometimes end up with really nice spouses. I don’t get it.
Having seen it up close and personal myself for many years (my very nice brother dated a series of evil wenches before marrying their queen) I think it’s just that nice people put up with more and the evil types see them as a good target. My SIL’s reign of terror has continued unabated because my brother not only puts up with it but actively enables it. He genuinely doesn’t see her for what she is and she takes full advantage of that.
I have never loved Reese more than I did when she brought the Type-A insanity as Tracy Flick in Election. It wouldn’t surprise me at all that she is a Level 5 Diva (on a scale of one to Mimi). She is infinitely more interesting to me when I read stories like this.
“On a scale of one to Mimi” hahahah 🙂
I had to read that one a couple times to get it. 😉
Ugh, it seems like every couple of weeks we get a new story about some female celeb and her refusal to make eye contact. This is just a story that’s been recycled a hundred times and now they’re slapping Reese’s name on it. Pathetic.
Every time I read something like this I laugh hysterically when I remember that this is the same woman who’s first role I can honestly remember is the runaway who murders Kiefer Sutherland in Freeway.
The more creepy video is the one after she was arrested and is on the way to the jail.. She really starts to southern it up and flirting with the officer and telling him she is pregnant. It is pretty uncomfortable to listen to… but this video has some of my favorite quotes by an American citizen, ever, including those by the great Samuel Clemens.
Don’t know if true or not but I never bought her sweetheart act. Never liked her much, and never will. If even partially true, this story shows her lack of manners. I always believed that you see a person’s true character when you see them interact not with her peers or bosses/ superiors, but with the ones within a lower pay scale: the waiter, the taxi driver, the hotel doorman, etc. she does not look like she’d be nice to any of these people.
I’ve got to agree with everything you said here. Hating myself, though, for coveting that last outfit of hers. B*tch.
Yeah, her Red Carpet style is always kind of hit or miss, but her casual look is always pretty much spot on. I love the raspberry colored sweater.
No, I’ve never bought that “sweetheart” bit either. Never bought it about Meg Ryan or Julia Roberts, either.
I don’t know if this story is true, but I’ve often read these alleged “no eye contact” stories and wonder if what is actually requested is “please don’t stare at X”. I mean, they must get stared at constantly and it’s probably distracting.
Meg Ryan is really VERY, VERY nice…I’m from Bloomington, Indiana and I’ve seen her around town. Her “boyfriend” can be a first class a-hole, but she is the sweetest thing ever AND she shops at the thrift shop!
It sounds believable especially in a business environment where it’s considered professional to be cordial to visitors.
Making eye contact would only encourage people to engage her in conversation at CAA, which is what Reese is most likely trying to avoid.
The phrase “selling your soul” comes to mind for Ol’ Jim.
He sounds completely cowed in the video when he speaks to Reese. She’s definitely the alpha in their relationship.
Goody, you got the video. I saw this on TV the day after it happened, I was so funny. It burned in my memory. Love the cop. Louder she got, calmer he gets! Haha.
I think she just puts out a Hollywood sweet persona whenever one of her films comes out to public, otherwise “F… you” to all of us, just like Jessica Alba or most of them.
I also noticed her husband glancing at the car like he was aware they was probably a camera on. Not ol’ Reese, though! Too drunk and raging to stop and think.
Maybe she keeps the glasses on cause she’s hungover?
I have a friend who was in a wedding with her years ago. Said she was a first class diva. As far as this story goes…where there’s smoke there’s fire. Story may be made up but there is some truth to it.
This is STAR magazine, so I take this with a grain of salt. When I saw the headline though my initial reaction was that she didn’t want people to have eye contact with the husband and that baffled me. He’s not what I’d call a big catch and certainly not a flight risk.
I read an article about her in sassy magazine WAAAAAAYYYY back in the day. Like after the movie where she crossed the kalahari desert (I think it was called a far off place). Anyway, I think I recall that it said that she was fake and acted like a sweet southern belle and really wasn’t that way. I think the article was trying to make some point about her really being a riot grrrrl or tough or something, I don’t remember, but it was a positive spin. Anyway, it just popped into my mind with Kaiser’s comment about maybe she’s always been this way. Indeed, maybe she has. If I was her husband, I would be really embarrassed
I’ve seen that movie and never made the connection that it starred Reese. And no, she’s never been sweet. This is a woman who named her production company “Type A”. She’s played sweet characters, but she herself is formidable.
I will never get tired of that arrest video.
His apologising for her when she’s out of the way, it’s hilarious.
He seems like a decent bloke – what he’s doing with someone who behaves like that i never know.
He does seem like an okay guy. Why do seemingly decent people marry jerks? I’ve seen this phenomena in men AND women. It’s like — they better be marvelous in bed for you to stay and endure this crap.
Keep this in mind: how decent can you really be and still become one of the biggest power players in Hollywood? He’s an agent at CAA. They’re not known for their niceness.
Don’t they know who she is?
Haha. 😀
Reese not taking off her sunglasses is proof she doesn’t want to make eye contact with anyone?
That’s what I’m wondering… the headline/article are written as if she made some kind of statement, but it’s all extrapolated from her wearing sunglasses.
Im confused…when was it ever not known that Reese was a raging bitch behind the America’s Sweetheart facade?
When I read the headline, I thought it meant she wouldn’t let Jim’s coworkers make eye contact with HIM. That’d be really excessive. Reese is definitely grade-A turd, and I know I’d really enjoy ignoring her ass when she was around.
“Character is how you treat those who can do nothing for you”.. I always thought that Reese was a mean, petty person. Remember this blind item?
http://blindgossip.com/?p=53234
I bet it really burned her to have to publicly apologize. She probably still thinks she had the right to get out of the car and school the officer in American Citizen rights on American Citizen ground.
Who knows if the eye contact stuff is true. I believe it just because it’s Reese, and it isn’t hard to imagine.
Why do people with everything get pleasure from demeaning others?
No kidding. And she will never be called out on it in any meaningful way that actually means consequences like not getting work or losing friends. It sucks.
Weirdly, the only thing I really took away from the article (frankly, the southern too sweet thing being a front isn’t ever going to be a shock to me, no matter who it’s about. My mom’s family is mostly Southern, da’s is Northern – so I grew up assuming 90% of the time, there is serious venom behind the sugar, and the sweeter the front, the more poisonous behind. Sure there are SOME folks who really are like that, through and through, just my own hangups from experience) but how in the name of little green apples do people ever actually GET to this point of bad behavior? People have to accommodate it. How do people actually find themselves scraping and bowing to these brats? I lasted a grand total of 36 hours as a personal assistant to someone like her, and I couldn’t wrap my mind around how they honestly were shocked when I said ‘no’ to the insane demands they would make. What has to be wrong in a persons head they willingly trot themselves through hell on a daily basis for a paycheck? Maybe agents need to get nannies for their clients instead of PA’s. A few more time out and calm “Not gonna happen, wanna try that again with a please and less throwing things?” Just… surreal to think anyone in their right state of mind would willingly go along with demands and things like basically agreeing they aren’t worthy of being treated like a human. No eye contact? Why? She gonna take it as an aggressive push and go growling for someone jugular? Does she mark territory and pee in the corners of peoples home too and hump knees?
She is a mega bitch and a basic bitch at that
I wonder if people think this about me. I wear glasses and frequently don’t change from prescription sunglasses to regular glasses when I go inside. I don’t like it too bright and the glare of overhead lights bothers me. Probably all sorts of coworkers badmouthing me behind my back. I guess I’m lucky it doesn’t end up in the company newsletter.
I’m a lawyer and we’ve got a list of what important clients like to eat and drink. We check it before scheduled meetings so we’re sure we can provide their favorites. We call it good customer service. CAA probably feels the same.
I remember she played Rachel Greene’s (Ms Aniston) sister, Amy, on Friends. Even back then, before this blog existed, word got out that RW & JA did not get along. She was not asked to reprise the role of Amy and they got Christina Applegate instead. IMHO she played it much much much better then RW anyway.
CA and RW didn’t play the same sister. If I recall correctly, Applegate played Amy and Witherspoon, Jill. As for her getting along well with others, I’m pretty sure she flunked that portion of kindergarten miserably.
I’m no movie star but it would just be so much fun to be insanely bitchy like Reese Witherspoon. Maybe throw in a little Karl Lagerfeld. And just prance around town making ridiculous, petty demands in a German-Southern accent. “Don’t be selfish darling. Stop looking at me and bring iced tea for my cat, Choupet! Don’t you know my cat is an American citizen?”
I have never listened to the audio before. What a twat!
There is much truth to this. Witherspoon has ALWAYS been this way but played it very careful with the image game. Now that the truth hit the public’s eye, she is trying to put a different spin on her image. As far as Jimmy Joe, well he is a co-head in one of the departments at CAA. Witherspoon would NEVER marry “just an agent” That is beneath her! Basically, she has his balls in a mason jar on her mantle at her home. Give it another 2-4 years and the WHOLE truth about these two will hit the surface!
This is all contractual and Witherspoon is, has been and will always be a beotch diva!