Tara Reid Says Not Having Kids Hurt Her Career: 'They Still Think You’re That Party Girl'
"I think, in Hollywood, if you don’t have kids or you’re not married, you’re judged," said Reid
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Tara ReidTara Reid is opening up about her personal life and career — and revealing why she thinks she would've found more professional success if she had children.
The American Pie actress, 47, spoke to her longtime friend Derek Warburton for the latest issue of Mr. Warburton Magazine where she noted that her career may have been "bigger" if she had kids.
“I’m not married, I don’t have kids," said Reid. "And I think, in Hollywood, if you don’t have kids or you’re not married, you’re judged. So they still think you’re that party girl from 40 years ago.”
She continued, “But all of a sudden, if you have a kid and you get married, ‘Oh she grew up, she’s great."
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“What if you can’t have kids or what if you don’t want to get married?” she added. “You can’t judge people on that anymore. And it’s the one thing that I think is really unfair about our society."
Reid also explained why she rejects the "bad girl image" she was branded with during her rise to fame, recalling how tabloid attention derailed her career even though she "never did anything wrong."
The actress added that she's "never been to jail" while expressing frustration with negative media scrutiny, and she joked that she was the "godmother" of a type of celebrity attention that stars like Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton eventually dealt with.
"I was the first one that started this image. The difference is I never did sex tapes. I never did anything wrong — I’ve never even gotten a speeding ticket," said Reid. "But what I did get punished for, if I wasn’t at work and I wasn't shooting, I went to Europe right away. I’d be popping bottles, and having a great time. But who doesn't do that?"
"I was just on an attack," she later added of what she deemed unfair treatment in the public eye. "Anything I did was on tape, it was pretty awful. And that’s why I left. It wasn’t because I was just a girl. It was because I was an easy target. I didn't have the money like Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian [who] had the greatest lawyers in the world. If you try to sue them, you're gonna get crushed. So what are you gonna do? You gotta go away for a little while."
Reid continued, "I'm still here now. I’m at the second coming of my age, and I’ve never been happier... If I didn’t get checked and get hurt and realize what was going on, I would never be the girl sitting here."
"I learned my privacy, I learned who’s my friend, who I need to keep around me, and who I love."
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