Jennifer Love Hewitt Recalls Being Asked ‘Gross’ Questions About Her Body as a Young Actress

• After watching Framing Britney Spears, Jennifer Love Hewitt has some thoughts.
• Hewitt, like Spears, was constantly asked about her body as a young actress.
• Only now does Hewitt see how inappropriate the questions she received were.

The recently released Britney Spears documentary, Framing Britney Spears brought up some unpleasant memories for 42-year-old actress Jennifer Love Hewitt. The New York Times-produced film explores how Hollywood and the media exploited and sexualized young Spears, and watching it made Hewitt realize that she too, as a rising star, was met with similar treatment. The sad part is, at the time, she thought it was normal.

“There’s that whole section in [the documentary] talking about her breasts,” Hewitt recently told Vulture, referring to a disturbing resurfaced interview with a 17-year-old Spears. “At the time that I was going through it, and interviewers were asking what now would be incredibly inappropriate, gross things, it didn’t feel that way. I mean, I was in barely any clothing [in Heartbreakers]. For some reason, in my brain, I was able to just go: OK, well, I guess they wouldn’t be asking if it was inappropriate.”

Most of the time, instead of saying anything, Hewitt just laughed the comments off. “I definitely look back on it and go, Ew,” she admitted. She even remembers wearing a T-shirt that read, “Silicone Free” to an I Know What You Did Last Summer press junket in the late ‘90s “because I was so annoyed, and I knew something about boobs was gonna be the first question out of [reporters’] mouths.”

Freddie Prinze Jr and Jennifer Love Hewitt looking up in fear in a scene from the film I Still Know What You Did Last Summer in 1998.

Now, as an older adult with a daughter, she wishes she would’ve known to say something—not just because the questions were rude and inappropriate, but also because her acting deserved more recognition.

“I was really tired of [the body] conversation. With Heartbreakers, that was a big part of it. I was disappointed that it was all about body stuff, because I had really worked hard in that movie to do a good job as an actress,” she recalled. “Gosh, I wish that I had known how inappropriate that was so I could have defended myself somehow or just not answered those questions.”

Thankfully, there’s somewhat of a silver lining in the fact that the objectification of women in Hollywood is slowly changing. And although it still has a long way to go, Hewitt is happy to see progress.

“When I watched that Britney Spears documentary, it hurt my heart a little bit, because I remember in hindsight having that feeling,” she explained. “I’m really grateful that we’re in a time where, hopefully, that narrative is going to change for young girls who are coming up now, and they won’t have to have those conversations.”

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Kayla Blanton

Kayla Blanton is a freelance writer-editor who covers health, nutrition, and lifestyle topics for various publications including Prevention, Everyday Health, SELF, People, and more. She’s always open to conversations about fueling up with flavorful dishes, busting beauty standards, and finding new, gentle ways to care for our bodies. She earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Ohio University with specializations in women, gender, and sexuality studies and public health, and is a born-and-raised midwesterner living in Cincinnati, Ohio with her husband and two spoiled kitties.