Reese Witherspoon 'flummoxed' by Ryan Phillippe's unscripted money quip at Oscars

Reese Witherspoon was left "flummoxed" when her then-husband Ryan Phillippe made a joke about her earning more money than him as they presented an award at the 2002 Oscars.

The couple took to the stage to present one of the Academy Awards, when Ryan offered to let Reese read out the winner because "you make more (money) than I do".

While the audience laughed, Reese looked slightly shocked, and revisited the moment during a chat on The HFPA in Conversation podcast.

"You're reminding me of that!" she said as she was asked how she felt at the time. "I forgot that ever happened. But you're right, he did say that, and no, it wasn't scripted, and he didn't tell me he was going to say that before it happened on air. So I was a little bit flummoxed in the moment, too."

Reese added she's unsure what prompted Ryan to make the comment, but continued: "There's so few women that make a lot of money that sometimes they're shamed for it, and sometimes they are expected to give more and do more and be more to others in the same position that, say, a male movie star would not be expected to. But I do think gender norms have changed quite a bit since that moment."

Ryan and Reese, who have children Ava and Deacon together, split in 2006 after seven years of marriage.