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Reese Witherspoon Apologizes For Her Behavior

Actress Reese Witherspoon in a photo provided by the City of Atlanta Department of Corrections after her arrest early Friday on a disorderly conduct charge.
AP
Actress Reese Witherspoon in a photo provided by the City of Atlanta Department of Corrections after her arrest early Friday on a disorderly conduct charge.

Now, something completely unrelated to the heavy news of recent days:

"I clearly had one drink too many and I am deeply embarrassed about the things I said," actress Reese Witherspoon says in a statement sent to Entertainment Weekly and other news outlets about her arrest Friday in Atlanta.

As we reported Sunday, police say Witherspoon's husband, James Toth, was behind the wheel in the early hours of Friday when his vehicle weaved over a double line. While an officer was having Toth take a field sobriety test, police say, Witherspoon got out of the vehicle. Authorities say she was told to get back in the car, but emerged from it again a short time later.

According to the police report, which The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has posted here, Witherspoon at one point asked the officer, "Do you know my name?" When he responded that he did not, she allegedly told him, "You're about to find out who I am."

Both Toth and Witherspoon wound up under arrest. He faces a charge of driving under the influence. She's accused of disorderly conduct. They were released after a few hours and are due in court later today (12:40 p.m. ET: See update below.)

The officer's report ends with this:

"I took Mrs. Witherspoon out of the right side and placed Mr. Toth in the right side of the rear of my patrol car. As I put Mrs. Witherspoon in the left side rear of my patrol car, she told me her name.

"Mrs. Witherspoon also stated, 'You are going to be on national news.' I advised Mrs. Witherspoon that was fine."

In her statement of apology, Witherspoon adds that "I was disrespectful to the officer who was just doing his job. I have nothing but respect for the police and I'm very sorry for my behavior."

Her movie credits include lead roles in Sweet Home Alabama and Legally Blonde.

Update at 12:40 p.m. ET. Case Continued:

Witherspoon did not appear in court today. "Her attorney, Steve Weiner, made no statements and the case was continued until May 22," according to The Buzz, a Journal-Constitution blog.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Mark Memmott
Mark Memmott is NPR's supervising senior editor for Standards & Practices. In that role, he's a resource for NPR's journalists – helping them raise the right questions as they do their work and uphold the organization's standards.
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