Jodie Foster Slams Media Frenzy Surrounding Kristen Stewart's Affair

Actress defends her Panic Room costar in a heartfelt Daily Beast op-ed

Jodie Foster is not one to judge.

In fact, the 49-year-old actress thinks we should all show a little compassion when it comes to the personal lives of celebrities. In particular? Let's give Kristen Stewart a break.

In an op-ed for the Daily Beast, Foster addresses our culture's obsession with fame and how we "seldom consider the childhoods we unknowingly destroy in the process."

Foster recalls shooting Panic Room with Stewart in 2001. "We talked and laughed for hours, sharing spontaneous mysteries and venting our boredom. I grew to love that kid," she says, reminiscing about a then 11-year-old, carefree Stewart playing a basketball game on set. "I was pregnant at the time and found myself daydreaming of the child I might have soon. Would she be just like Kristen? All that beautiful talent and fearlessness…would she jump and dunk and make me so proud?"  

"Actors who become celebrities are supposed to be grateful for the public interest," Foster says, noting that she wouldn't have been able to withstand growing up in today's saturated star culture. "After all, they're getting paid. Just to set the record straight, a salary for a given on-screen performance does not include the right to invade anyone's privacy, to destroy someone's sense of self."

Her advice for Stewart? Remember that "this too shall pass."

"The public horrors of today eventually blow away. And yes, you are changed by the awful wake of reckoning they leave behind. You trust less. You calculate your steps. You survive," she says. "Hopefully in the process you don't lose your ability to throw your arms in the air again and spin in wild abandon. That is the ultimate F.U. and—finally—the most beautiful survival tool of all. Don't let them take that away from you."

Wise words.