Natalie Portman sincerely apologizes (twice) to Jessica Simpson for bikini comments

Natalie Portman proves there is a gracious and kind way to offer a public apology, celebrity to celebrity — and we applaud that.

Natalie Portman has now apologized twice to aught’s pop star Jessica Simpson, following some not so fantastic remarks about her during an interview her new film, Vox Lux. When Portman was asked about her musical inspirations and idols growing up, she noted Madonna and Jessica Simpson, saying:

"I felt really lucky to have her [Madonna] as a little kid, because I saw someone who was brazen and disobedient and provocative and trying to mess with people and always changing – I thought it was a great thing to see in a woman growing up…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."

Jessica Simpson was quick to follow up with a defense of her image and choices in 1999.

Natalie Portman originally responded to the post, qualifying her statements, saying:

"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."

Portman, in a mature adult way we rarely see in public apologies, did not take back her words but did offer an apology, adding “I didn’t mean to shame you and I’m sorry for any hurt my words may have caused.”

Yesterday Portman went further on Entertainment Tonight, clarifying her recent comments. 

"I would never intend to shame anybody and that was absolutely not my intention. I was really talking about the mixed media – mixed messages that media puts out there for young women and completely apologize for any hurt it may have caused because that was definitely not my intention… What I said was I was confused by mixed messages when I was a young girl growing up, and I think there are a lot of messages for how women should be, and women should be allowed to do whatever they want and, yeah…And also, it is a mistake to say anyone’s name. I could have made my message without naming."

We have yet to see how Jessica responds. Both women have a good point, as Simpson’s sexuality was, alongside other popstars, certainly exploited back in the late 90’s by a media more powerful than any individual singer, yet impacted a generation of young people and children.