Did Ava Phillippe come out as LGBT? Reese Witherspoon’s daughter waitressed in an LA pizza restaurant, drives a Volkswagen Jetta and modelled Beyoncé’s Adidas athleisure

Jan 21 , 2022

Ava Phillippe and mum Reese Witherspoon have often been described as a “splitting image” of one another. Photo: Getty Images

On Instagram, when a fan asked whether she likes boys or girls, the 22-year-old multimedia creative replied that she’s attracted to ‘people’ and added ‘gender is whatever’

She was in a relationship with fellow University of California, Berkeley student Owen Mahoney – but a summer 2021 picture of the pair together has since been deleted …

Ava Phillippe is often described as the spitting image of her mum Reese Witherspoon. While the mother-daughter duo often generate buzz for looking physically similar, this time Ava turned heads for revealing her true, independent self.

Like mother, like daughter: Reese Witherspoon and daughter Ava Phillippe. Photo: @avaphillipe/Instagram

Phillippe recently shared that she doesn’t do labels when dating. In an online Q&A, she responded to a fan’s query about whether she likes boys or girls, answering unapologetically with a reposted story with a selfie captioned: “I’m attracted to … people!” She added, “Gender is whatever.”

Ava Phillippe got candid with her sexuality. Photo: @avaphillippe/Instagram

However, it seems her response didn’t sit well with some users. She received bigoted and hateful remarks in the comment section of her posts, prompting her to address the issue. She didn’t call out any specific haters, but artfully shut down trolls: “My Instagram profile is not a place for cruelty/hate speech and I intend to do what I can to keep that way. Peace and love.”

Ava Elizabeth Phillippe with mum Reese Witherspoon, Deacon Reese Phillippe and Jim Toth at The Hollywood Reporter’s Annual Women in Entertainment breakfast gala in December 2019. Photo: WireImage

So as the 22-year-old steps out of her mother’s shadow, we ask, who is the real Ava Phillippe, and what’s she really like?

A creative soul

An artwork by Ava Phillippe. Photo: @avaphillippe/Instagram

Just a quick glance at Phillippe’s Instagram indicates that she’s a talented artist. Her feed is filled with a mix of photographs and sketches featuring her friends, people, animals and abstracts.