By Page Six | Created at 2026-08-08 00:34:06 | Updated at 2026-08-08 08:38:07
10 hours ago
Reese Witherspoon’s father, John Draper Witherspoon, was rushed to the hospital Friday, Page Six can confirm.
A source tells us that the 84-year-old was found face down on the concrete by the pool at his condo in Nashville, Tennessee.
According to our insider, a fellow resident spotted John from their balcony and called downstairs to alert the doorman, who eventually found the actress’ dad near the pool.
“The doorman and building manager rolled him over and they said, ‘Dr. Witherspoon, are you OK?'” the source noted. “He blinked his eyes, and that’s when he was rushed to the hospital.”
Nashville Metro confirmed to Page Six that a medical incident did occur at John’s condo building on Friday, resulting in someone being rushed to the hospital. However, they did not reveal the identity.
Page Six has reached out to Reese’s reps for comment.
John and his wife, Mary Elizabeth (aka “Betty”), raised Reese and her older brother, also named John, in Nashville.
The “Legally Blonde” star’s parents were both in the medical field. Her mom worked as a nurse, and her dad as a surgeon: an otolaryngologist, specializing in the ears, nose and throat.
John was also a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army Reserves and was stationed in Germany for several years when Reese was a little girl, per People. The family eventually settled in Nashville after John fulfilled his draft obligation for the Vietnam War.
In the ’90s, John and Betty separated and began living separately — news that came to light only when Betty lodged a bigamy lawsuit against John in 2012.
Betty had read about John’s new marriage to Tricianne Taylor in the local newspaper. She demanded that his second marriage be annulled, arguing that John had failed to divorce her before getting married again.
At the time, Betty detailed in the suit that they’d lived separate lives due to John’s issues with alcohol, infidelity and hoarding. Betty hadn’t divorced John and declared she still loved him.
In 2018, Betty told the Australian outlet Women’s Day that she and John had reconciled (per People).
“He has moved back in with me,” she told the publication at the time, noting that they’d been back together “quite a while” and were “still married.”
Both John and Betty were by Reese’s side when she won the Best Actress Oscar for her role as June Carter Cash in “Walk the Line” at the 2006 Academy Awards.
While Reese typically shares candid moments on social media with her mother, her dad has been featured less prominently. However, she did share a recent rare photo of John to celebrate Father’s Day in 2020.
The snap, shared via her Instagram Stories at the time, showed them on a walk together and was captioned, “Hey Dad!”
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