Reese Witherspoon Lost A Famous Friend After Making A “Pretty Bad” Joke

Even Reese Witherspoon has moments she can’t live down. While interviewing her You’re Cordially Invited co-star Will Ferrell in a new video for People, the Oscar winner revealed her most embarrassing speech, stating that she mistakenly roasted a famous British star while presenting her an award.

“It literally haunts me,” she said. “So this friend of mine, who I didn't really know that well but she was a very serious, proper actress, she asked me to give her an award. But I had never been to this award ceremony, so I thought it was like a roast. So I got up, and I roasted her.”

Mocking a formal accent, Witherspoon explained that the event’s tone “was British, elegant, classy,” with Ferrell joining in on the accent. “And I was like, ‘Remember the time we got laser hair removal?’” she recalled, laughing. “Are you kidding? I'm still embarrassed about it.”

It turns out that her jokes had unexpected consequences. “We're not friends anymore. I'm not even kidding — we're not friends anymore,” she 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. Not even kidding, she doesn't talk to me anymore. Oh well.”

But Who Was The Actor?

Naturally, online sleuths didn’t take long to investigate who Witherspoon may have been referring to. They quickly claimed the story is linked to Kate Winslet, who Witherspoon honored at the BAFTA/LA Cunard Britannia Awards in 2007 by presenting her as the Artist of the Year.

As noted by Just Jared, a Witherspoon fansite published part of her speech, noting that she joked about “the time they contemplated laser hair removal.” This tracks with Witherspoon’s retelling of the story.

The actors seemed to be on good terms earlier that year, greeting each other with hugs and kisses on the red carpet at the 2007 Golden Globes. They reunited almost a decade later to present an award together at the 2016 Oscars, and there didn’t seem to be any bad blood either onstage or in the backstage area.

Winslet has not yet commented on the speculation, and Witherspoon has not revealed the actor’s identity herself.