Jennifer Love Hewitt forced to fend off ‘gross’ media questions about her breasts as a teenage actor

‘I remember purposely wearing a T-shirt that said ‘Silicone Free’ on it because I was so annoyed,’ said star

Jennifer Love Hewitt (Broadimage/Shutterstock)

Jennifer Love Hewitt has reflected on the “incredibly inappropriate” media attention she received surrounding her body when she was a teenager.

The actor recalled how she was treated in a new interview about Heartbreakers, the 2001 romantic comedy crime movie about a mother-daughter team (Hewitt and Sigourney Weaver) who swindle wealthy men out of their money.

“It’s interesting,” she told Vulture. “I just watched the Britney Spears documentary and there’s that whole section in there, talking about her breasts. 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 the whole movie [Heartbreakers]. For some reason, in my brain, I was able to just go, ‘Okay, well, I guess they wouldn’t be asking if it was inappropriate.’"

She said the unwanted attention began after she starred in 1997’s I Know What You Did Last Summer when she was 18, “because that was the first time that I had worn a low top”.

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Hewitt added: “At a press junket for I Know or I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, I remember purposely wearing a T-shirt that said ‘Silicone Free’ on it because I was so annoyed, and I knew something about boobs was gonna be the first question out of [reporters’] mouths. I was really tired of that conversation."

She continued: “Now that I’m older, I think, ‘Gosh, I wish that I had known how inappropriate that was so I could have defended myself somehow or just not answered those questions.’ I laughed it off a lot of the time, and I wish maybe I hadn’t.”

Jennifer Love Hewitt in I Know What You Did Last Summer (Mandalay Ent/Kobal/Shutterstock)

The documentary Hewitt was referring to is Framing Britney Spears, a film made by The New York Times that shows the misogyny and ruthlessness with which Spears has been treated throughout her career.

The programme sparked a discussion about the treatment of women in the media, with celebrities such as former child star Mara Wilson, who memorably starred in classic family films like Mrs Doubtfire, Matilda, and Miracle on 34th Street, sharing their stories as well.