Is Ryan Phillippe still relevant? New bare-chested pictures may be an attempt to wipe controversial past
‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’ helped Ryan Phillippe come to be known as “The New Heat” when he featured in the cover image of the Paper magazine in 1998 and turned heads by marrying none other than Hollywood's top star Reese Witherspoon in 1999. Also, his portrayal of the first gay teenager on ABC’s daytime soap opera ‘One Life to Live’ as Billy Douglas garnered him the recognition that was unique.
He even landed the opportunity to act opposite actresses Neve Campell, Salma Hayek, and actor Mike Myers in ‘54’, thanks to the success of his 1997 American slasher film. In the following years, he played a range of roles in films including ‘The Way if the Gun’, Crash’, ‘Breach’ and a few more. However, not all of his later movies saw commercial success such as ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’ and his stardom eventually began to fade until he portrayed Louis Roulet in 2010’s ‘Lincoln Lawyer’, which was lauded by critics.
Apart from a television role in ‘Damages’, he also tried his hand in direction by helming ‘Catch Hell’. He was last seen playing the lead role of Bob Lee Swagger on USA Network’s ‘Shooter’ from 2016.
But, what has he been in the news for otherwise in recent times?
Whether fans remember Phillippe for his movies and shows or not, but they would definitely know what’s happening in his personal life. Apart from showing off bare frontal pictures on his Instagram handle, which has over 1 million followers, the 45-year-old actor has made headlines for in allegedly assaulting his former partners.
While reports from 2017 revealed that his former fiancee Paulina Slagter dragged him into LAPD on March 26 for sending a series of vulgar texts and accusing her of infidelity, his ex-girlfriend Elsie Hewitt filed a domestic assault case against him in September for allegedly punching, kicking and throwing her downstairs. Even Witherspoon was called to testify in the case. He, however, denied the allegations made against him and stated that he was only “protecting” himself. But, Hewitt was granted a restraining order by LAPD, refraining Phillippe from coming within 100 yards of her. Phillippe claimed in a November 2017 case filing that Hewitt was extorting him and that he asked the court to quash her lawsuit so he could begin taking “appropriate legal action to hold Hewitt accountable for the serious harm” she inflicted him. The case was settled in 2019 with him paying Hewitt $1million in damages. He and Witherspoon share joint custody of their two children -daughter Ava, 20 and son Deacon, 16 - following their divorce in 2007.
The SAG Award-winning actor who is currently looking for ‘a quaran-Queen’ has been sharing pictures of his bare chest on Instagram. He often shares similar posts flaunting his sculpted body, filled with tattoos. Another favorite pastime of his seems to his love for vintage vehicles . He also shared a tribute to 'the only possession he gives two s***s about' - his cream-colored sixties-era Ford pickup truck. "Ain't she pretty? You can honestly burn the rest," the Delaware-born blond gushed. He shared with fan that he had had the beauty for over two decades now.