Ava Phillippe opens Pride Month and reflects on past statements about sexuality and gender

Ava Phillippe kicks off Pride Month with a moment of reflection. On Saturday, the 24-year-old daughter of Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe rang in the first day of the celebratory month on Instagram, more than two years after she first spoke about her sexuality.

“Once upon a time there was a girl on the internet who said ‘Gender doesn’t matter’ in reference to her own sexuality,” Ava captioned the photo, which shows her posing in front of a pond and waving a rainbow flag. “Many have taken her words out of context, but she knew what she meant. Either way, this is her contribution to the first day of Pride Month 2024.”

Ava concluded her caption with several emojis showing a rainbow, stars, a disco ball and hands forming a heart.

The post refers to Ava’s previous statements about her sexuality, which the model made in January 2022 when she hosted an “Ask Me Anything” session with her followers on her Instagram story.

When a follower asked, “Do you like boys or girls?” Ava replied that she is open-minded when it comes to romance.

“I am attracted to… people! (Gender doesn’t matter),” she wrote.

At the time, Ava was dating Owen Mahoney. When she received backlash for her reaction, Ava quickly dismissed the rude comments.

“Quick reminder. I can and will block profiles that comment bigoted/hateful messages under my posts,” the then 22-year-old wrote in a message in her Instagram stories via EHR! Message. “My Instagram profile is not a place for cruelty/hate speech and I intend to do everything I can to keep it that way. Peace and love.”

It was far from the first or last time Ava has called out her “haters” on social media. Last month, she took to TikTok to vent about two contradictory and equally offensive comments she recently received about her physique.

Ava Phillippe reacts after fans say her boyfriend looks like her father Ryan Phillippe

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Ava Phillippe reacts after fans say her boyfriend looks like her father Ryan Phillippe

Ava stands in front of a bathroom mirror wearing an oversized Blondie T-shirt and reaches for a red lipstick. Text appears on the screen. The video is accompanied by a cover of the 90s hit “Just a Girl” by No Doubt.

“No big deal but I just hit a major milestone as a woman online,” the message reads. “I’ve seen two different strangers comment on my body. The first said I should go to Oz*mpic because I’m too fat… The second accused me of starving myself because I’m too thin… My weight hasn’t changed in the time between their comments. (& it wouldn’t be any of their business if it had changed!)”

Then Ava smears lipstick on her cheek, rolls her eyes and adds, “This is such bullshit.”

The model leaves the frame while text continues to play over the video.

“No one deserves to be judged for the way they look,” it says. “You don’t always know what someone has been through or what they’re struggling with. But no matter who you are… your beauty goes beyond superficial standards.”

In her caption, Ava adds: “Pretty is who is pretty, girls… and body shaming is just toxic behavior. 💋.”

She also admits that body shaming is not limited to women.

“PS: I chose ‘woman’ because I see this happening disproportionately to young girls and women, but let me be clear: body shaming is toxic, no matter who the victim is,” she says. “We all deserve to feel safe and at peace in the bodies we live in.”

Ava’s famous mom left a supportive message in the comments section, writing, “Yes to all of this 💋.”

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