In early 2013, Reese Witherspoon seemed destined for Meg Ryan’s later career. Both hit it big as smart, sometimes daffy romcom blondes with more going on than initially appeared. But after winning an Oscar for Walk the Line, Reese’s movies… hadn’t exactly popped.    Then something happened. On April 19, 2013, Reese was in the car with her husband, talent agent James Toth, when he was pulled over under suspicion of driving while intoxicated after swerving into the wrong lane. But it was Reese who got arrested for disorderly conduct.   They were in Atlanta while Reese filmed The Good Lie (another film that would go on to make no impact at the box office), and James was pulled over just after midnight. They parked in a  Walgreens parking lot (because where else is there to park in Atlanta?) when, according to the police report, “Mrs. Witherspoon began to hang out the window and say that she did not believe that I was a real police officer. I told Mrs. Witherspoon to sit on her butt and be quiet.”   She didn’t sit on her butt and stay quiet. Reese Witherspoon had had enough. And she made national news for it. But what did it mean for her career? Obviously it didn't impede her; she's earned her best reviews in the years since. But how did this moment in an unwanted spotlight shift her priorities? Mark walks the line from Walgreens parking lot to the current empire she's built.   Logo: Jessica Balaschak   Music: Caveman of Los Angeles by Party Store Music --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/american-scandals/support