Natalie Portman Apologizes To Jessica Simpson For Her Virginity Comments

“Thank you for your words,” the Vox Lux star wrote in an Instagram post. “I completely agree with you that a woman should be allowed to dress however she likes and behave however she likes and not be judged.”

Then she explained, “I only meant to say I was confused — as a girl coming of age in the public eye around the same time — by the media’s mixed messages about how girls and women were supposed to behave.”

The 37-year-old insisted that “shaming” the former reality star was never her intention. “I’m sorry for any hurt my words may have caused. I have nothing but respect for your talent and your voice that you use to encourage and empower women all over the globe,” she ended.

During an interview with USA Today, Natalie recalled, “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. Like, I don’t know what this is trying to tell me as a woman, as a girl.”

The singer-clothing designer wasn’t at all pleased with those comments. In a lengthy social media post of her own she wrote in part, “I was disappointed this morning when I read that I ‘confused’ you by wearing a bikini in a published photo taken of me when I was still a virgin in 1999.”

“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,” she added. “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.”

What do you think of Natalie’s apology to Jessica? Let us know in the comments.