Jennifer Love Hewitt Reveals She Went Through 'a Lot No One Knew About' in 2023: ‘Grateful for That Privacy' (2024)

Jennifer Love Hewitt is opening up about her eventful year.

The 9-1-1 star, 44, shared a selfie on Instagram on Sunday and got candid about the ups and downs she experienced over the past 12 months.

“This year I went thru [sic] a lot no one knew about,” the actress began, noting that she was “grateful for that privacy.”

"I had the greatest time being a mommy at home with my kids,” she wrote. “Learned to be a better baker. Learned it’s okay to take time for myself mentally, physically and emotionally. Did a lot of praying and manifesting. Belly laughed more than ever. Had the longest cold of my life. Was forced to have more faith than normal.”

She went on to share that she “learned to love working out as a gain for my mental health” and “took chances on myself and my bigger dreams.”

Hewitt also said that she “sat deeper in grief and was able to let more go. Felt my mom around us and saw signs that she was. Said goodbye to things that don’t serve positivity in my life and made room for lots of good things in 2024.”

The I Know What You Did Last Summer actress also noted that she celebrated “10 years with my guy" — husband Brian Hallisay — “got some tattoos” and “truly let whatever I needed to learn teach me.”

"And so here I am. Happy, blessed, grateful and filled with hope,” she wrote. “I will be praying our world gets better this year and everyone sees less pain, fear and heartbreak. Love to all and Happy New Year!”

Also this year, Hewitt, who rose to fame as a child actor, made headlines for getting real about aging in the spotlight — which she spoke out about after fielding claims that she looked “unrecognizable” on social media.

During an appearance on Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum earlier this month, the actress pushed back on the claims, which arose after she debuted a dark bob to her Instagram followers this fall.

"Aging in Hollywood is really hard. It's really hard because you can't do anything right,” Hewitt told the podcast’s host, Michael Rosenbaum.

After she posted a photo debuting her new ‘do, Hewitt said that “a bunch of people were like, ‘Jennifer Love Hewitt is unrecognizable,’” and others accused her of using filters “because she doesn't want us to know how bad she actually looks now in her 40s.”

"And I was like, ‘This is crazy right?’” she recalled to Rosenbaum.

To poke fun at her online haters, Hewitt said she posted more photos, this time with “over-the-top, crazy” filters on — and was met with even more vitriol.

“I was like, ‘All natural, no filter,’ like trying to make fun of it, and then they came after me for that and they were like, ‘Well, now she's just defending herself,'" she said. “And I realized, ‘I can do no right.’”

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The Criminal Minds actress also acknowledged the kindness people show her, but said she can’t help but give those who make negative comments about her appearance attention because of her daughter, Autumn. (She shares Autumn, 10, as well as sons Atticus, 8, and Aidan, 2, with Hallisay.)

The “only reason those people bother me” is because “I'm a mother of a girl,” she said.

“It's dangerous what we put on people. It's dangerous, I think, to say to women, 'You can't look like you're not 22 to me anymore because I don't know how to take that,’” she said.

“Because I'm 44, and this is what I look like,” she added.