Reese Witherspoon Says She's Working to Feel Less Lonely in the Wake of Her Divorce

May 2024 · 2 minute read

Reese Witherspoon is booked and busy — but the reason why might not be what you're thinking. Yes, she's juggling being a mom, running a book club, and starring on TV shows like The Morning Show, but during a candid conversation at Hello Sunshine's Shine Away Event over the weekend, America's sweetheart explained that she's filling her schedule so that she feels less lonely. Witherspoon revealed the news during a conversation with Tracee Ellis Ross, saying that as she's getting some distance from her divorce, which was announced back in March 2023, and settling into her new life, she's kept busy to avoid feeling lonely.

“I've been trying really hard to find balance outside of work,” Witherspoon said. “I'm a person who fills my schedule with busyness so that I feel less alone or less nervous or less unsettled. Work has always been my bomb. And I started to realize that isn't going to work for me.”

She elaborated, saying that “about a year ago” she “was a robot, and the robot broke.”

“I cried and cried. I think I texted you,” Witherspoon shared, to which Ross replied, “I remember.”

Reese continued, saying, “I did. I texted Tracee. I was like, ‘The robot broke.’ And [it] actually makes me feel very vulnerable sharing that with y'all. But I think it's important we hold up so much for so many."

Presley Ann/Getty Images for Hello Sunshine

People reports that she finished the conversation by reciting a poem by her friend, Cleo Wade, which was about being “the glue in people’s lives.”

“Sometimes you are the glue in everybody's life, whether it's at work or being a mom or being a partner, but who is holding you together?” Witherspoon said. “It's really important to remember that you have to be the glue that holds yourself together.”

She added that when she first read the poem, she "burst into tears, because I didn't feel like I was taking very good care of myself, and I wasn't asking other people for help."

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