Rachel Bilson Says She Lost a Job After “Speaking Candidly and Openly About Sex” on Podcast
Rachel Bilson says she is “floored” after allegedly losing a job following comments she made on a podcast.
While speaking on Monday’s episode of her Broad Ideas podcast, the actress says, “It’s been an interesting week, guys. This is the first time it’s ever happened to me in my professional life that I lost a job this week because of things that were said and then spun in the press and clickbait headlines and whatnot. I lost my first job.”
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She goes on to explain, “A job got taken away from me because I was speaking candidly and openly about sex in a humorous way on our friend’s podcast… I basically got a job, that I already had, pulled from me because I was speaking openly about sex.”
She says that “in this day and age” she’s “baffled” by the decision, reiterating, “A single mom, a woman, lost a job because they were being candid and honest and the subject was sex. I didn’t even have a chance to defend myself.”
The comments Bilson refers to are from her interview on the Women On Top podcast, where she discussed her favorite and least favorite sex positions. After sharing that she likes to be “manhandled,” Bilson later clarified that it was meant to be a lighthearted statement.
“First of all, I said it in a joking manner in the interview, like, ‘Yeah, I wanna get fucking manhandled.’ Basically, it’s like, okay give control or take control in the bedroom, whatever,” she explains on Broad Ideas.
“Because that specific line was pulled and it made it sound a certain way, I didn’t even have a chance to defend myself. I didn’t have a chance to speak on it,” she says, later explaining that the brand [she was involved with] “said they weren’t comfortable with that headline … I feel like it’s discrimination.” She also says she felt “shamed” by the unnamed company.
Bilson does not disclose what the job was. A rep for Bilson tells The Hollywood Reporter that it was an endorsement deal.
She also admits that she “cried” after everything and reflects on how this experience has impacted her family: “I’m a single mom. Like I need these jobs … everything counts. You know, I provide a lot for my family — my daughter — and regardless of anything else, it all matters.”
Bilson recalls growing up in “a very open household where things were talked about” and sex being discussed “in a sacred way.” However, after losing this job, she says she is still feeling “floored.” “Everything was set in motion and I lost the job. It sucks,” she adds.
Regardless of what happened, Bilson stands by her comments saying, “I haven’t said anything inappropriate. Choice of language, if I could go back, now knowing that I lost a job, maybe I would say it differently. But I still wouldn’t not say it.”
May 18, 1:21 p.m. Updated with comment from Bilson’s rep.
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