Charlize Theron: Indulging in web fodder akin to ‘feeling raped’

Charlize Theron has grown accustomed to being online and tabloid fodder, but that doesn’t mean the actress indulges in the glut of headlines about her. She actually believes that doing that would leave a person “feeling raped.”

The “A Million Ways to Die in the West” star sat down for an interview with Britain’s Sky News in which a reporter read a litany of headlines yielded from a simple Google search about the South African beauty.

Her love interests, outfits and her son Jackson, whom she adopted in 2012, were among the topics that came up in the reporter’s query and that’s when the reporter asked her if she was bothered by the personal and intrusive nature of the stories and their higher ranking over stories about her career.

“I don’t do that [Google myself], so that’s my saving grace, yeah,” the Oscar-winning actress said, rolling her eyes. “I think it’s when you start living in that world, and doing that, you start, I guess, feeling raped.”

When the reporter asked her if she really felt that strongly, she didn’t deny it.

“Well, you know, when it comes to your son and your private life — maybe that’s just me. Some people might relish in all that stuff [media interest] but there are certain things in my life that I think of as very sacred, and I am very protective over them,” the J’Adore by Dior spokeswoman said.

“And that doesn’t mean that I always win that war but as long as I don’t have to see that stuff or read that stuff or hear that stuff then I can live with my head in a clear space that’s probably a lot healthier than living in that little dark room.”

The rape remarks have been condemned by social media users as “offensive” and “ignorant.” Incidentally, the actress has previously headed up anti-rape campaigns in South Africa.

“I can’t be concerned about what some idiot is going to write online about my short skirt, or something like that. I can only take responsibility for myself,” she told Sky News.

“There is a part of my job that is incredibly lovely -- to fly first class to London, to be able to do that with my son and my family and I am definitely not jaded by any of that,” she said. “My job has made my life incredibly blessed and good and I am very grateful for that, but it does not mean that every aspect of my life all of a sudden becomes fodder for an article.”

Not surprisingly, renewed interest in the 38-year-old further piqued since she began dating fellow Academy Award-winner Sean Penn late last year.

Theron isn’t the first A-lister to compare the voyeurism to rape either. In 2010, “Twilight” alum Kristen Stewart compared paparazzi photos of her to “looking at someone being raped” during an Elle UK interview. In 2011, “Pirates of the Caribbean” alum Johnny Depp told Vanity Fair that photo shoots make him feel like he’s “being raped somehow.” Both Stewart and Depp later apologized for the comments.

Earlier this week, Oscar-winner Gwyneth Paltrow also had some choice words about being the subject of the taunts of online commenters, which too sparked a bevy of ire.

“You come across [online comments] about yourself and about your friends, and it’s a very dehumanizing thing. It’s almost like how, in war, you go through this bloody, dehumanizing thing, and then something is defined out of it,” Paltrow said. “My hope is, as we get out of it, we’ll reach the next level of conscience.”