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Reese Witherspoon revealed she was sexually assaulted at 16, in a powerful speech.

Reese Witherspoon's three decades in Hollywood have been peppered with prestigious awards, a long list of blockbuster successes — and, she shared recently, several incidents of sexual assault at the hands of powerful men.

The A-lister was on stage at ELLE's Women in Hollywood event on Oct. 16, introducing her "Big Little Lies" co-star Laura Dern, when she revealed she's been sexually harassed numerous times throughout her career. One instance, she said, occurred when she was just 16 years old.

Inspired by the dozens of women who've come forward in recent days alleging disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein harassed, assaulted, or raped them, Witherspoon joined the chorus of those demanding more needs to be done.



"I didn’t sleep at all last night," Witherspoon began, reflecting on a difficult week of news for many survivors of sexual assault.

"I have my own experiences that have come back to me very vividly, and I found it really hard to sleep, hard to think, hard to communicate," Witherspoon told the crowd. "A lot of the feelings I’ve been having about anxiety, about being honest, the guilt for not speaking up earlier or taking action. True disgust at the director who assaulted me when I was 16 years old and anger that I felt at the agents and the producers who made me feel that silence was a condition of my employment."


Reese Witherspoon and her daughter Ava Phillipe at the ELLE Women in Hollywood event. Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for ELLE.

Witherspoon continued:

"I wish I could tell you that that was an isolated incident in my career, but sadly, it wasn’t. I’ve had multiple experiences of harassment and sexual assault, and I don’t speak about them very often, but after hearing all the stories these past few days and hearing these brave women speak up tonight, the things that we’re kind of told to sweep under the rug and not talk about, it’s made me want to speak up and speak up loudly because I felt less alone this week than I’ve ever felt in my entire career."

Witherspoon instructed the room of Hollywood influencers on how to advance the cause in their own lines of work.

Namely, she said, they need to do whatever they can to help put more women in positions of power.

She continued (emphasis added):

"There’s a lot of people here who negotiate quite frequently with different companies and heads of companies, and I think maybe during your next negotiation, this is a really prudent time to ask important questions like, who are your top female executives? Do those women have green-light power? How many women are on the board of your company? How many women are in a key position of decision-making at your company? Asking questions like that, I found, it seems so obvious, but people don’t ask those questions."

Witherspoon isn't just talking the talk either. She's been changing the game for women in Hollywood for years.

In 2012, Witherspoon launched Pacific Standard, a production company focused on creating more women-led entertainment projects. It's produced blockbusters like "Wild" and "Gone Girl," as well as the critically acclaimed miniseries "Big Little Lies," in which Witherspoon starred alongside Dern, Nicole Kidman, and Shailene Woodley. The series was widely praised for drawing attention to issues surrounding domestic abuse and sexual violence.

[rebelmouse-image 19529704 dam="1" original_size="750x530" caption="The cast of HBO's "Big Little Lies." Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images." expand=1]The cast of HBO's "Big Little Lies." Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images.

After the 2016 presidential election, Witherspoon also decided to launch Hello Sunshine — an online platform aimed at allowing women from across the country to share their own stories and be heard.

But so much more is needed.

We desperately need more people like Witherspoon working behind the scenes in Hollywood.

A study released in January found women made up just 7% of director roles across the industry's top 250 films in 2016 — down 2% from the year before. If filmmaking wants to be a more inclusive and less abusive industry for women, men need to become allies in action, advocating for more women to take up space behind closed doors, where deals are made and movies are green-lit.

But Witherspoon — who's "really, really encouraged that there will be a new normal" after the Weinstein allegations went public — believes change is on the horizon.

"For the young women sitting in this room, life is going to be different for you because we have you, we have your back," Witherspoon said. "And that makes me feel better because, gosh, it’s about time."

A pitbull stares at the window, looking for the mailman.


Dogs are naturally driven by a sense of purpose and a need for belonging, which are all part of their instinctual pack behavior. When a dog has a job to do, it taps into its needs for structure, purpose, and the feeling of contributing to its pack, which in a domestic setting translates to its human family.

But let’s be honest: In a traditional domestic setting, dogs have fewer chores they can do as they would on a farm or as part of a rescue unit. A doggy mom in Vancouver Island, Canada had fun with her dog’s purposeful uselessness by sharing the 5 “chores” her pitbull-Lab mix does around the house.

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Cameron House/Naughty Sheep

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Remember when "goat yoga" was all the rage? And then "cow cuddling" and "turkey cuddling" made everyone's bucket lists?

Now we can add "nuzzling with naughty sheep" to the mix, but with a fancy Scottish twist.

Less than an hour from Glasgow, Scotland, the Cameron House resort sits on the bonnie banks of Loch Lomond, looking as if it were plucked straight out of a fairy tale. Sprawling green grounds, gorgeous lake views and a four-story castled mansion greet guests as their "home away from home" (only better), and a perusal of the reviews show guests raving about the 5-star resort's elegance, beauty and exceptional service.

I mean, just look at this place:

drone view of cameron house grounds and lakeCameron House sit on Lake Lochmond in Scotland.Cameron House


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Which brings us to the 90s. The age of beach blonde surfer boys (real surfing skills not required, but a plus). Of flannel, lots of flannel, and super chiseled bodies. Let’s not forget this was the dawning of the term “metrosexual,” and also the time period that brought us that Calvin Klein ad with Mark Wahlburg.

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A family from Denmark has created a touching video montage documenting their unique friendship with a wild Eurasian crow. This crow, affectionately named Russell, has become an honorary member of their household, forming special bonds with each family member, including the pets.

However, the crow's relationship with their son, 2-year-old Otto, is truly extraordinary. “They could spend hours just playing,” Otto’s mother, Laerke Luna, says in a video shared by The Dodo. "When Otto is outside, he will never leave Otto’s side.”

Russell, the free-spirited crow, ventures away from the family's home from time to time, but never for too long. He always comes back and announces his return by tapping on the door, swooping in to lounge on the sofa, or awaiting Otto's return from school atop their roof.

“When we are inside, he will sit inside the window because he wants Otto to go outside with him,” Laerke said.

The family’s relationship with Russell didn’t come out of nowhere. When Russell was a young bird, he had health problems so the family took him and nursed the bird back to health. Eventually, they witnessed his first attempts to fly.

Recently, Russell became friends with another family member, their second child, Hedwig. Although he does get a little annoyed with the bird’s frequent attempts to nab his pacifier.

Even though it’s rare for humans to strike up such a close bond with a crow, according to research, it’s not that surprising. Audubon says that crows are “some of the smartest animals in the world” with an intelligence “on par with chimpanzees.” They are also very social and family-oriented, so no wonder Russell loves Otto and his family.

Crow Named Russell Waits For His Favorite Kid To Get Home From School | The Dodo


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Why you shouldn't throw your dishwasher pod into the bottom of your dishwasher

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Photos by cottonbro studio and PhotoMIX Ltd. via Canva

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