Personal life

Witherspoon met American actor Ryan Phillippe at her 21st birthday party in March 1997, where she introduced herself to him saying "I think you're my birthday present."The pair got engaged in December of 1998.The following year, after starring together in the box office hit Cruel Intentions, the couple got married in Charleston, South Carolina on June 5, 1999.They have two children: daughter Ava Elizabeth, born September 9, 1999, and son Deacon, born October 23, 2003.In order to be able look after the children at all times, the couple alternated shooting for films.By 2005, in response to critical news reports of Witherspoon and Phillippe receiving marriage counseling, Witherspoon stated, "We've done that in the past, and it's always struck me as odd that people grabbed onto that story and made it sound so negative."On June 21, 2006 Witherspoon sued the US-based tabloid Star Magazine for running a false story on a third pregnancy.She sought unspecified general and punitive damages in the lawsuit, asserting that the claim harmed her reputation because it suggested she was hiding the news from producers of her upcoming films.