Reese Witherspoon has opened up about a falling out with a British actress who, according to her, no longer speaks to her. And based on an old fan site from 2007, all signs point to Kate Winslet.
During a recent interview alongside her You’re Cordially Invited co-star Will Ferrell, Reese shared the awkward moment that, she believes, cost her a friendship.
“Have you ever had this moment where you gave a speech and then like three years later, you’re like, ‘Why did I do that? Why did I do that?’” she asked Will before diving into the story.
“I have one. It literally haunts me,” Reese admitted.
Reese recalled being invited to present an award to a fellow actress—someone she didn’t know too well but described as “a very serious, proper actress.” However, unfamiliar with the event’s tone, Reese mistakenly thought it was a roast.
“So I got up and I roasted her,” she revealed. “The tone was British and elegant and classy. And I was like, ‘Remember the time we got laser hair removal?!’ I’m still embarrassed about it.”
The fallout was immediate.
“We’re not friends anymore. I’m not even kidding—we’re not friends anymore,” Reese said. “I think she doesn’t like me anymore. I thought it was so funny, and it was just, I had the wrong audience. It was pretty bad. Yeah. Not even kidding, she doesn’t talk to me anymore. Oh well.”
After some digging, it turns out this cringeworthy speech happened at the BAFTA/LA Cunard Britannia Awards in November 2007—where Reese honored none other than Kate Winslet.
At the time, Reese and Kate appeared to be friendly, having been spotted greeting each other at the Golden Globes earlier that year. But Reese’s speech that night may have changed everything.
According to a fan site transcript from 2007, Reese joked:
“I always wanted to be a European movie star, wear giant sunglasses, elaborate neck scarves, smoke hand-rolled cigarettes, and have savoir faire and gravitas. Imagine my good fortune when Kate Winslet moved into my neighborhood, rang my doorbell and said, (insert British accent here) ‘Dahling, Sam is off shooting, and I believe our children are the same age. Could they possibly have a play date and oh, by the way, it’s almost 9 o’clock and I’ve had nothing to drink, do you have any wine?’”
She also praised Kate’s “fearlessness,” saying, “When I saw her in Iris and she took off all her clothes and jumped into that lake, I thought, ‘Wow, I bet that lake is really cold.’ And then I thought, ‘Wow, there’s an actor without fear.’”
Reese even teased that she couldn’t share personal stories about Kate because “they’re all too bawdy or tawdry or drunken to tell.”
While the full transcript isn’t available, the fan site noted that Reese hinted at embarrassing moments, including “the time they contemplated laser hair removal and… or that time on the freeway when they pulled over and… or that really funny thing that happened when they were both in their underwear.”
While Reese’s latest comments suggest they never truly patched things up, the two actresses did reunite—at least publicly—years later. In February 2016, Reese and Kate presented together at the Oscars, and photos from backstage show them looking cordial, even smiling together.
Whether that means they buried the hatchet or just kept things professional remains unclear, but one thing’s for sure—Reese’s ‘roast’ moment is one she won’t be forgetting anytime soon.
