Nikki Reed and husband Ian Somerhalder have released a joint statement to clear the air after the couple shared their pregnancy story, which began with Ian stealing and throwing out her birth control pills last year.
In their note, which was shared on Nikki's Twitter, the couple wrote: "To anyone who has been affected by reproductive coercion, we are deeply sorry.
"This is an extremely serious issue, and women's rights is something that is incredibly important to both of us. It is something we've been very vocal about, and something that is very close to our hearts."
They continued to stress that they made the decision to get pregnant together, and that anything Ian did to Nikki's birth control pills was part of "a goofy moment in Barcelona with our two best friends".
Nikki and Ian, who welcomed their first child, a baby girl named Bodhi Soleil Reed Somerhalder, on July 25, received some backlash last week after appearing on Dr Berlin's Informed Pregnancy podcast.
As the story went, "unbeknownst to poor Nikki", Ian went into her purse and grabbed a nearly-full pack of birth control pills and flushed them down the toilet during the couple's trip to Barcelona.
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In the interview, Ian added: "This was the beginning of the pack, so I had to pop all of those suckers out. There were like 25 of them. It's a lot of work, especially after a little sangria."
On Friday, Nikki took to Twitter to show her support for women's rights after the podcast made the rounds on the internet.
"Women's rights matter, so please don't use false narratives to highlight issues that are truly important!" she wrote. "We should be talking about these things, but using a funny interview between married people & twisting it to perpetuate gossip is irresponsible."
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Peggy is Cosmopolitan.com’s entertainment writer, specializing in Leonardo DiCaprio, This Is Us, and the royals. She’s also a proud Canadian and pug lover. When Peggy’s not obsessing over Leo’s latest lover or gut size, she can be found watching old episodes of Friends or Gilmore Girls. Her dream is to one day live on a pug farm and write children’s books, with illustrations by her very talented husband Greg.
