• iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • Lad Files
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Extinct
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content
Jennifer Love Hewitt speaks out on being sexualised aged 16 calling out 'grown men talking about her breasts'

Home> Entertainment> Celebrity

Published 20:56 10 Feb 2025 GMT

Jennifer Love Hewitt speaks out on being sexualised aged 16 calling out 'grown men talking about her breasts'

"I didn’t know what being sexy meant."

Brenna Cooper

Brenna Cooper

Jennifer Love Hewitt has called out the inappropriate comments she received as a teenager in Hollywood.

After joining the Disney Channel as a child, Hewitt got her acting breakthrough as a teenager in 1997 hit slasher film I Know What You Did Last Summer and its sequel I Still Know What You Did Last Summer.

However, being thrust into the public eye at a young age wasn't always easy for the actress, as she has now opened up on the creepy sexualisation she received as a teenager.

The actress rose to fame at a young age (Gregg DeGuire/Variety via Getty Images)
The actress rose to fame at a young age (Gregg DeGuire/Variety via Getty Images)

Advert

Following her role in teen drama series Party of Five, Hewitt was just 18-years-old when the cult favourite, which also featured Buffy star Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe, and Freddie Prinze Jr, hit cinemas.

And as the film's main character, Hewitt received a lot of media attention — primarily directed at her looks and body.

Reflecting on the early days of her career in an interview on Mayim Bialik’s Breakdown podcast (via US Weekly), the actress revealed that it wasn't until she reached her thirties that she realised it was 'really strange' for people to be calling her a 'sex symbol' so young.

"There were grown men talking to me at 16 about my breasts just openly on a talk show, and people were laughing about it," she said.

"In hindsight it was really strange I think to become a sex symbol sort of for people before I even knew what that was."

Advert

Recalling how people would joke that 'I know what your breasts did last summer' at the time, Hewitt said: "Everybody would laugh, and so I would laugh because it was supposed to be funny, I guess.

"It didn’t register with me that this was a grown man talking about my breasts on national television."

Jennifer Love Hewitt in I Know What You Did Last Summer (Sony Pictures Entertainment)
Jennifer Love Hewitt in I Know What You Did Last Summer (Sony Pictures Entertainment)

Going on to explain that she had no idea 'what sexy meant' at the time, the Garfield actress added that she doesn't blame people who made the comments as it was 'part of the culture' at the time.

"They were allowed to believe that that was appropriate, I answered the questions, laughed right along. I have no problem with them for doing it," Hewitt added.

Advert

"But when you sit and you look at where we are now versus then, it’s really mind-blowing."

Hewitt will reprise her role as Julie James in the upcoming reboot of I Know What You Did Last Summer, alongside Prinze Jr. and a new cast which features Nicholas Alexander Chavez and Madelyn Cline.

Featured Image Credit: (Gregg DeGuire/Variety)

Topics: Celebrity, TV and Film, Entertainment, Podcast

Brenna Cooper
Brenna Cooper

Brenna Cooper is a journalist at LADbible. She graduated from the University of Sheffield with a degree in History, followed by an NCTJ accredited masters in Journalism. She began her career as a freelance writer for Digital Spy, where she wrote about all things TV, film and showbiz. Her favourite topics to cover are music, travel and any bizarre pop culture.

X

@_brencoco

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

9 hours ago
12 hours ago
a day ago
  • 9 hours ago

    Sydney Sweeney’s dad and grandad ‘turned show off and walked out’ following X-rated scene

    Although her role in Euphoria won her an army of fans, it's not exactly the best viewing material for her family to watch

    Entertainment
  • 12 hours ago

    Woman who offered Oasis fans her garden to camp in under one condition shares update as date arrives

    Liv Bridge has now got a pair of happy campers on her hands

    Entertainment
  • a day ago

    Hugh Hefner’s widow, Crystal, makes name change eight years after his death

    Crystal Hefner was the Playboy founder's third and last wife

    Entertainment
  • a day ago

    Serial killer thriller banned in the UK is finally legal and free to watch after 33 years

    The film can now be watched for free despite having been banned over 30 years ago

    Entertainment
  • Naked Attraction contestant reveals brutal reaction after being kicked out following crotch reveal
  • Pamela Anderson hits out at 'sex symbol' status as she reveals why she no longer wears makeup
  • Baby Driver child star Hudson Meek dies aged 16 after fall from moving vehicle
  • Ben Affleck wishes ‘no one knew’ he was sober as actor speaks out on lifestyle change