Jessica Simpson wasn't here for comments Natalie Portman made about her being "confused" when the singer was pictured wearing a bikini on a magazine cover in 1999 as a virgin. The singer-turned-business woman dismissed the actor's sentiment in a scathing statement posted to Twitter and Instagram on Wednesday.
Portman, who is set to play a pop star in Vox Lux, spoke with USA Today about how "there's a difference in expectation" for musicians compared to actors. In doing so, she recalled the time she saw Simpson grace a magazine cover in a bikini while she was still a virgin.
"I remember being a teenager, and there was Jessica Simpson on the cover of a magazine saying, 'I'm a virgin' while wearing a bikini, and I was confused," Portman, 37, said in the interview published Tuesday. "Like, I don't know what this is trying to tell me as a woman, as a girl."
Simpson, a mother-of-two, wasn't amused by Portman's criticism. This led the 38-year-old "With You" singer to address her disappointment with the Academy Award winner's remarks in a statement she shared to social media.
"@NataliePortman—I was disappointed this morning when I read I 'confused' you by wearing a bikini in a published photo taken of me when I was still a virgin in 1999," Simpson began, "As public figures, we both know our image is not totally in our control at all times, and that the industry we work in often tries to define us and box us in. However, I was taught to be myself and honor the different ways all women express themselves, which is why I believed then—and I believe now—that being sexy in a bikini and being proud of my body are not synonymous with having sex."
— Jessica Simpson (@JessicaSimpson) December 5, 2018
Simpson explained how she's "embraced" the idea of being a role model to women. She then suggested "the power lies within us as individuals" to be able to look or wear whatever one wants. However, she then pushed for Portman to make a habit out of abstaining from shaming women for what they choose to do.
"I have made it my practice to not shame other women for their choices," she wrote. "In this era of Time's Up and all the great work you have done for women, I encourage you to do the same."
Simpson lost her virginity to her first husband, 98 Degrees singer Nick Lachey, on the former couple's wedding night in October 2002. She explained the moment to Blender magazine, saying: "It was the most amazing moment of my life. I'm so lucky I didn't lose my virginity in the back of a Jeep or something. Instead, I had this amazing, elaborate wedding and I topped it off with that."
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