Jennifer Aniston criticizes JD Vance for his ‘childless cat lady’ remarks: ‘I hope your daughter is happy enough to have children’
Aniston shares a photo of Vance’s appearance on Tucker Carlson’s television show (formerly Fox News) on her Instagram Stories, writing: “In fact, I can’t imagine this coming from a potential vice president of the United States.”
In a resurfaced video from 2021, when Vance was then a candidate for the Ohio Senate, he told Carlson that the United States is ruled by “a lot of childless cat ladies” who are miserable in their own lives and therefore want to make the country unhappy.
In the resurfaced clip, which has been circulated on social media this year, Vance said: “It’s just a fact — look at Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, AOC — the future of the Democrats is controlled by people without children. And how does it make sense to hand over our country to such people?”
Aniston — who typically keeps her personal matters private but has spoken publicly about her fertility journey — also wrote about Vance’s far-right positions on reproductive health.
“All I can say is… Mr. Vance, I hope your daughter is happy enough to have her own children,” Aniston wrote in her Instagram Stories. “I hope she won’t need IVF as a second option. Because you are trying to take that away from her too.”
In 2022, Aniston made rare comments in a cover story for Allure, where she first spoke about her fertility issues and her IVF treatment.
“I tried to get pregnant. The journey of having children was challenging for me,” Aniston said, looking back on her 30s and 40s. “All the years and years and years of speculation… It was very hard. I did IVF, Chinese teas, everything that was out there. I would have given anything. I would have told myself, ‘Freeze your eggs. Do yourself a favor.’ But that wasn’t easy for me to think at the time. So here I am now. The ship has sailed.”
Aniston’s fierce words about Vance’s comments come from a personal place, as the “Friends” star has experienced the rumor of being childless personally. Throughout her career, she has been subjected to excessive tabloid coverage that intruded into her relationships and speculated about her childlessness.
In her Allure interview, Aniston said that the media narrative that she was “just selfish” and “only interested in my career” was painful.
“God forbid a woman be successful and not have a child,” she said in 2022. “And the reason my husband left me was that I didn’t want to give him a child. Those were absolute lies.”
On Thursday, Aniston also made a clear statement for Harris by resurfacing a 2018 video of Harris confronting Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh about abortion rights.
(The video resurfaced by Aniston was shared by actress Allison Janney.)
Reproductive health will be a key topic in the elections. Many women in Hollywood have spoken out on reproductive rights over the years and will align with Harris, who is the Biden administration’s leading voice for abortion and women’s health.
CNN has reached out to Aniston’s representative for further comments on her post about Vance and her apparent call to action for Harris.
The resurfaced video about Vance’s comments on childless politicians has sparked a debate about reproductive rights and has been picked up in entertainment news. Aniston, who has spoken openly about her fertility journey and IVF treatment, has used her platform to express her views and call for compassion for the reproductive choices of future generations.