Jodie Foster: Leave Kristen Stewart Alone!

Jodie Foster is speaking out about the media’s take of the Kristen Stewart cheating scandal in an op-ed piece she wrote for The Daily Beast.

Here are some excerpts from Kristen‘s Panic Room co-star’s piece:

On media ruining young celebrities’ childhoods: “Lift up beautiful young people like gods and then pull them down to earth to gaze at their seams. See, they’re just like us. But we seldom consider the childhoods we unknowingly destroy in the process… I’ve said it before and I will say it again: if I were a young actor today I would quit before I started.”

On working with Kristen: “In 2001 I spent 5 months with Kristen Stewart on the set of Panic Room mostly holed up in a space the size of a Manhattan closet. We talked and laughed for hours, sharing spontaneous mysteries and venting our boredom. I grew to love that kid…”She doesn’t want to be an actor when she grows up, does she?” I asked. Her mom sighed. “Yes … unfortunately.” We both smiled and shrugged with an ambivalence born from experience. “Can’t you talk her out of it?” I offered. “Oh, I’ve tried. She loves it. She just loves it.”

On Kristen today: “Cut to: Today … A beautiful young woman strides down the sidewalk alone, head down, hands drawn into fists. She’s walking fast, darting around huge men with black cameras thrusting at her mouth and chest. “Kristen, how do you feel?” “Smile Kris!” “Hey, hey, did you get her?” “I got her. I got her!” The young woman doesn’t cry. F–k no. She doesn’t look up. She’s learned. She keeps her head down, her shades on, fists in her pockets. Don’t speak. Don’t look. Don’t cry.”

On moving on from a scandal: “Eventually this all passes. 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. 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.”

For Jodie‘s full piece, visit TheDailyBeast.com!