Photo: Ian Gavan/Getty; Kevin Mazur/WireImage
“I would never want to shame anyone and I fully respect her and her choices,” Portman tells PEOPLE. “I was talking about the confusion I felt as a young girl seeing the messages that I felt the media was sending out to young girls about very specific ways we should be. I made a mistake to say a name. It was absolutely not directed at her. I feel bad that she was hurt.”
In aninterview withUSA Today, Portman, who plays a pop star in her new filmVox Lux, mentioned Simpson posing in a bikini and professing her virginity as one example of sexualization.
“I remember being a teenager, and there wasJessica Simpsonon the cover of a magazine saying ‘I’m a virgin,’ while wearing a bikini, and I was confused,” Portman toldUSA Today. “Like, I don’t know what this is trying to tell me as a woman, as a girl.”
While most commenters seemed to support Simpson’s sentiment, other people referenced that she might be misreading the situation.
Natalie Portman and Jessica Simpson.Shutterstock (2)
Portman has been aTime’s Upadvocate from the beginning, and she’s very vocal about how women deserve to be treated in and outside of Hollywood.
In October, the Oscar Winner spoke about sexual harassment, equal pay, representation and more as an honoree atVariety’s Power of Women summit.
“Stop the rhetoric that a woman is crazy or difficult,” Portman said. “If a man says to you that a woman is crazy or difficult, ask him,’ What bad thing did you do to her?’ … That’s a code word. He’s trying to discredit her reputation. Make efforts to hire people who’ve had their reputations smeared in retaliation.”
InVox Lux, she plays a 30-something pop star who rose to fame in the late ’90s and now grapples with her superstardom. PortmantoldUSA Today, that musicians have it harder than anyone else in the spotlight when it comes to public scrutiny.
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“People who succeed in music, their fandom is much larger than any actor, and it’s them as themselves whereas actors are in character,” Portman said. “There’s a difference in expectation.”
A source tells PEOPLE that Simpson’s takes her platform as a role model very seriously, which sparked her passionate reaction.
“She believes strongly in supporting women’s choices and their individuality,” the insider adds. “She understands that the pop music industry at the time had a vision for her and she chose to put on that bikini for the photo shoot and she was okay with it.”
source: people.com
