What beef? Natalie Portman has no interest in continuing her recent feud with Jessica Simpson — a fact she made all too clear while appearing on a Tuesday, December 18, episode of Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen.
The Oscar winner, 37, responded to a caller who asked if she had spoken to the fashion designer, 38, offline since “the recent miscommunication.” “No, only, only on,” Portman said. “I have only … only respect and good feelings for her.”
The Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace vet went on to say that there was no need for drama between the two. “I think there’s no need for beef between women,” she said. “We’re all in the same society and living with the same pressures and we’re allies.”
The women made headlines in early December when Simpson called out the Black Swan star for comments she made in an interview with USA Today about the “With You” singer’s image when Portman was coming of age.
“I remember being a teenager, and there was Jessica Simpson on the cover of a magazine saying ‘I’m a virgin’ while wearing a bikini, and I was confused,” Portman told the publication. “Like, I don’t know what this is trying to tell me as a woman, as a girl.”
Simpson clapped back at the comment via Instagram on December 5. “@Natalieportman I was disappointed this morning when I read that I ‘confused’ you by wearing a bikini in a published photo taken of me when I was still a virgin in 1999,” she wrote. “As public figures, we both know our image is not totally in our control at all times, and that the industry we work in often tries to define us and box us in. However, I was taught to be myself and honor the different ways all women express themselves, which is why I believed then — and I believe now — that being sexy in a bikini and being proud of my body are not synonymous with having sex.”
She continued: “I have always embraced being a role model to all women to let them know that they can look however they want, wear whatever they want and have sex or not have sex with whomever they want. The power lies within us as individuals. I have made it my practice to not shame other women for their choices. In this era of Time’s Up and all the great work you have done for women, I encourage you to do the same.”
The Dior spokeswoman apologized to the Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica alum with a comment on her Instagram post later that same day.
“Thank you for your words. I completely agree with you that a woman should be allowed to dress however she likes and behave however she likes and not be judged,” she wrote. “I only meant to say I was confused — as a girl coming of age in the public eye around the same time — by the media’s mixed messages about how girls and women were supposed to behave. I’m sorry for any hurt my words may have caused. I have nothing but respect for your talent and your voice that you use to encourage and empower women all over the globe.”
