Harvard Business School invited the actress and entrepreneur to give a talk on entrepreneurship and female empowerment.

Reese Witherspoon returns to Harvard 24 years after Legally Blonde: ‘What, like it’s hard?’

Harvard Business School invited the actress and entrepreneur to give a talk on entrepreneurship and female empowerment.

By Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman is a news writer for with previous work in MUBI Notebook, Slant, and the LA Review of Books.

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November 6, 2025 7:27 p.m. ET

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Reese Witherspoon in 'Legally Blonde' and at Harvard in 2025. Credit:

MGM; Reese Witherspoon/Instagram

Reese Witherspoon is going back to *Blonde*.

The actress, entrepreneur, and star of the iconic courtroom comedy* Legally Blonde *was recently invited to return to the place where it all began — Harvard.

"What, like it's hard? 💕 Had the best time visiting Harvard Business School and chatting with some seriously brilliant minds!" Witherspoon wrote in the caption of a video shared to her Instagram on Thursday, depicting the actress meeting with students, speaking to packed classrooms and auditoriums, lip syncing lines from the film, and even teaching a group her character's patented "bend and snap" technique.**

As *Legally Blonde*'s Elle Woods, Witherspoon charted a memorable path from dumb blonde to Harvard Law School graduate. Elle's journey begins as a gambit to get back at her ex (Matthew Davis) for underestimating her potential ("What, like it's hard?" she famously mocks him after flaunting her admission to the competitive college), but evolves into a sincere pursuit of justice, fueled by passion for the law.

Witherspoon has blazed a similar trail from globe-trotting Army brat to millionaire screen star and business maven — making her a perfect candidate to address the moguls in training at the Harvard Business School.

The school celebrated Witherspoon's return to participate in an event called "A Conversation on Women & Leadership," where the actress "shared her thoughts on entrepreneurship, leadership, and empowering women," per a Thursday post from Harvard's official Instagram account.**** "'I thought, I see this massive problem that's been here for hundreds of years — of this lack of storytelling for women that really shows women in the dynamic way that they present in the world,'" Witherspoon said of her multimillion-dollar multimedia Hello Sunshine company, the post noted.**

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The Harvard school paper, *The Harvard Crimson*, reported in its wrap of the Witherspoon event that the *Legally Blonde *star said she had "no clue" that the college has made screenings of the film a standard part of the curriculum for freshmen.

"It's had this tremendous impact and this resonance, because I do think everyone feels like an underdog. It doesn't matter who you are, you are overcoming something to sit in this room at this moment and to be part of your own hero's journey," Witherspoon shared.****

Reese Witherspoon in 'Legally Blonde'.

Tracy Bennett/MGM

Though Witherspoon's various entrepreneurial endeavors have lately become an integral feature of her public persona, she began kickstarting hustles in parallel to and beyond her acting career well over two decades ago.

Witherspoon established her first production company, Type A Films, in 2000 with partner Debra Siegel. That banner flew above all three films in the *Legally Blonde *franchise, and produced the 2006 Christina Ricci comedy *Penelope *too. Type A Films reformed into Pacific Standard, over which Witherspoon now retains sole control. The actress has since launched the retail brand Draper James, the wildly popular literary organization turned development pipeline Reese's Book Club, and co-wrote her first novel with Harlan Coben this year — all of which are safely housed under the ever-expanding Hello Sunshine umbrella.

Original Article on Source

Source: “EW Movies”