Everyone should read what Reese Witherspoon said about women in Hollywood

Esteemed actress and Hollywood treasure Reese Witherspoon has made a poignant and powerful speech about women in the film industry.

The Legally Blonde and Big Little Lies star recently spoke at the Wall Street Journal's Innovator Awards.

There she address the wave of sexual assault allegations that have disgraced the likes of Harvey Weinstein, James Toback, Brett Ratner and Kevin Spacey.

In her speech she chose to touch on the subject by tackling it by talking about inequality in Hollywood.

BuzzFeedquote her as saying:

We’ve been dealing with some really ugly truth of sexism and sexual harassment, and it has been rampant for far longer than I have been an actress, and it’s brought back a lot of painful memories for people.

It’s been a real time of reckoning for us, and there is a definitely a growing realization that we need to take the time to really examine the biases that exist in our industry and make much-needed change.

Because this is not an issue about actors and actresses, this is a bigger issue about power.

I think we have to turn a critical eye about female leadership in Hollywood and whether that’s encouraged or even allowed, because you can’t have accountability or awareness of different perspectives if women are not at the decision-making table.

I don’t really believe that we’ve been seeing the full spectrum of the female experience, and that is simply because women’s stories are not prioritized.

She even took time to tell the Wall Street Journalthat male directors can be offered big jobs by simply having one hit at the Sundance Film Festival.

She said:

I wasn’t being offered opportunities to grow my company until I got that third hit.

A guy has one hit at Sundance, and he gets Jurassic World.

She's referencing Colin Trevorrow, who was the man who directed Jurassic World after making just one movie before, the indie hit Safety Not Guaranteed.

You go Reese!

Via: Giphy

You can read more about her production company, which specialises in stories about women and female talent, here.

HT BuzzFeed

More: Reese Witherspoon says women tell her they went to law school because of 'Legally Blonde'​