Jennifer Aniston on being publicly shamed: ‘I have worked too hard to be whittled down to a sad, childless human’

'My marital status has been shamed; my divorce status was shamed; my lack of a mate had been shamed; my nipples have been shamed'

Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux (Getty)

Jennifer Aniston has criticised the media for shaming her throughout every step of her life.

Speaking to Marie Claire, the Friends’ actress listed all of the ways she had been targeted: her life, her work and her appearance.

Her relationships and speculation over whether she could be pregnant have come under particular scrutiny, prompting her to write an essay for the Huffington Post in response to another spurious pregnancy story.

“My marital status has been shamed; my divorce status was shamed; my lack of a mate had been shamed; my nipples have been shamed. It's like, 'Why are we only looking at women through this particular lens of picking us apart? Why are we listening to it?

“I just thought: I have worked too hard in this life and this career to be whittled down to a sad, childless human.”

“For the record, I am not pregnant,“ Aniston wrote in her essay at the time. "What I am is fed up. I’m fed up with the sport-like scrutiny and body shaming that occurs daily under the guise of 'journalism,' the 'First Amendment' and 'celebrity news'.

“We use celebrity 'news' to perpetuate this dehumanising view of females, focused solely on one’s physical appearance, which tabloids turn into a sporting event of speculation. Is she pregnant? Is she eating too much? Has she let herself go?"