Jessica Simpson has publicly expressed her disappointment with actress Natalie Portman. The American singer and actress accused Portman of shaming other women for their choices.

The spat began when Portman, who is a leader in the Time’s Up movement, made comments about Simpson’s sexuality during an interview about her upcoming film, Vox Lux.

Portman stated: “I remember being a teenager, and there was Jessica Simpson on the cover of a magazine saying ‘I’m a virgin’ while wearing a bikini, and I was confused. Like, I don’t know what this is trying to tell me as a woman, as a girl.”

Simpson responded to Portman’s comments on her Instagram page.

She wrote: “I was disappointed this morning when I read that I ‘confused’ you by wearing a bikini in a published photo taken of me when I was still a virgin in 1999.”

She went on to explain that as public figures, their images are not always in their control and that the entertainment industry often tries to define and box them in.

Simpson continued: “I was taught to be myself and honor the different ways all women express themselves, which is why I believed then — and I believe now — that being sexy in a bikini and being proud of my body are not synonymous with having sex.”

The singer emphasized that she has made it a practice not to shame other women for their choices and encouraged Portman to do the same.

Portman apologized in a comment beneath Simpson’s post, stating: “Thank you for your words. I completely agree that a woman should be allowed to dress however she likes and behave however she likes and not be judged.”

“I only meant to say I was confused – as a girl growing up in the public eye around the same time – by the media’s mixed messages about how girls were supposed to behave.”

“I didn’t mean to shame you and I’m sorry for any hurt my words may have caused.”

Jessica Simpson rose to fame in the late 1990s as a teen pop star and later appeared in MTV’s reality series, Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica, with her first husband, Nick Lachey.

The couple’s marriage ended in 2005.