Natalie Portman confirmed on Tuesday night that the miscommunication between her and Jessica Simpson that went down on Instagram earlier this month has been put to bed. The Vox Lux actress appeared on Watch What Happens Live and was asked by a fan if she had spoken to Simpson offline since the singer-turned-business mogul took offense to Portman's comments about her wearing a bikini while still a "virgin."
"No, only on, and I have only respect and good feelings for her," she said, adding, "I think there's no need for beef between women. We're all in the same society and living with the same pressures, and we're allies..."
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In an interview with USA Today, Portman referenced the mixed messages women receive from Hollywood.
“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," she said. "Like, I don’t know what this is trying to tell me as a woman, as a girl."
"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," Simpson wrote on Twitter and Instagram in response to the interview. "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. I have always embraced being a role model to all women to let them know that they can look however they want, wear whatever they want and have sex or not have sex with whomever they want. The power lies with us as individuals."
"Thank you for your words," Portman responded in an Instagram comment in response to Simpson's defense. "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. 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. I didn't mean to shame you and I'm sorry for any hurt my words may have caused. I have nothing but respect for you talent and your voice that you use to encourage and empower women all over the globe."
Watch Portman's take on the controversy below: