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Brooke Shields is looking back at some of the "absurd" questions she was asked when she was a teen.
Shields appeared on the January 15 episode of the Dear Chelsea podcast, speaking to host Chelsea Handler about aging, a main feature of her new book Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed To Get Old. During their chat, they talked about how Shields and other young stars were treated like "public property" because of how young they were when they started working and how that paved the way for some inappropriate questions she faced when she was younger.
The actress, whose first lead role was in the film Pretty Baby when she was 12 years old, reflected on certain questions she was asked as a teen star, specifically calling out the controversial interview where journalist Barbara Walters compared her body measurements to Shields, who was just 15 years old at the time.
"It's just so absurd, but it has been so allowed and perpetuated for so long... It doesn't end," she said, also noting that the problem still exists today, just mainly in the different form of social media. "Everybody has so much to say about everybody else, and we didn't ask for it. And you don't just have to be in the public eye, you're just a normal person who gets an Instagram account. So I think that part's more universal, is that we're constantly commented on our beauty."
The Blue Lagoon star also reflected on interviews where reporters would ask her the same question over and over hoping for a specific answer before she would bluntly tell them, sorry for not giving you the answer you want.
"You start learning to play certain games, you know, just to get through these things because you know that they don't really care," she explained. "Or I had to start learning how to speak in sentences that couldn't be chopped up to have a completely different meaning when they're put in print."
On Dear Chelsea, Handler gives out her advice and answers questions sent in by listeners. Often joined by celebrity guests and her co-host Catherine Law, the outspoken comedian gives her honest opinions on a variety of topics like love and sex to loss and family problems, all with the blunt humor and edge she is known for.
Everyone who wants to follow along and tune in to Handler's advice can catch weekly episodes of the Dear Chelsea podcast at iHeart.com.