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Celebrity culture comes with its fair share of public brutality in the form of obsessive fan mobs and relentless paparazzi. The inability of media to separate a star’s personal and professional spheres has troubled almost every actor in the industry. Jennifer Love Hewitt, too, has had to face similar struggles, even more so after being sexualized as a teenager in Hollywood.
Now, as a grown adult who has survived a brutal and turbulent career and lived through the Me Too era, the9-1-1actress has come to appreciate some of its essences while recognizing the shortcomings of being exposed to the male gaze at such a young age.
Jennifer Love Hewitt opens up about being sexualized
As a successful star who enjoyed relative success in her years as a child actress, singer, and later film and television actor,Jennifer Love Hewittnever hit a dry spell. However, the downside of growing up under the glaring exposure of Hollywood is the constant scrutiny and criticism that filters in from every direction.
Jennifer Love Hewitt was merely 18 years old when the wildly popular cult classic slasherI Know What You Did Last Summerpremiered in theaters worldwide. Themovie raised her status from local fame to global recognition. However, with the teenage actress’s renewed status also came a new set of problems.
“I’m supposed to be this thing for people” Jennifer Love Hewitt Felt Objectified When Director Asked Her to be ‘Sexier’ Than Usual
Men, whether they be fans, peers, co-workers, or other working professionals in the industry, began to sexualize the teenage star. Her magazine cover photos became the next hot topic of the season and fans openly spoke about the same on national television or radio talk shows.
Although she never registered the disturbing pattern of events in her years growing up, decades later, Jennifer Love Hewitt would come to admit how gross it all seems in hindsight.
Jennifer Love Hewitt reveals gross stories of her past
One of the most groundbreaking phenomena that shifted the paparazzi culture around Hollywood is the activism surrounding Britney Spears. From her wild days in the early Aughts to her emancipation and end of conservatorship during the Covid era, the singer managed to reform a side of the industry that was simply too ugly to bear.
It wasn’t ironic then that the Britney Spears documentary nudged Jennifer Love Hewitt’s consciousness awake when it came to realizing how she herself was sexualized as a young celebrity.
“She hates her so bad”: Fans Are Convinced Sarah Michelle Gellar and Jennifer Love Hewitt Do Not Like Each Other After a Cold Red Carpet Moment
Speaking to Mayim Bialik on herYouTube channel, she revealed:
There were grown men talking to me at 16 about my breasts just openly on a talk show, and people were laughing about it … it was really strange I think to become a sex symbol for people before I even knew what that was. I was on the cover of Maxim magazines, and people would openly walk up and be like, “I took your magazine with me on a trip last week.” It’s kind of gross.
Currently, Jennifer Love Hewitt is slated to appear in an untitled sequel to her famous 1997 slasher hit,I Know What You Did Last Summerwhere she will reprise her role as Julie James. The movie is scheduled to premiere in 2025.
Diya Majumdar
Senior Writer
Articles Published :2409
Diya Majumdar is a Senior Content Writer at FandomWire with over 2000 published articles on the website. Since 2022, she has been working as an entertainment journalist with a special focus on films and pop culture.Among the countless genres and themes of Hollywood, the ones that particularly favor Diya’s tastes include Game of Thrones, DC, and well-aged thrillers and classics.
