Actor Ryan Phillippe and wife Reese Witherspoon at the 12th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles, January 29, 2006. Oscar-winning actress Reese Witherspoon sued Star magazine on Wednesday, charging that the US-based tabloid fabricated a story that she was pregnant with her third child. [Reuters]

Oscar-winning actress Reese Witherspoon sued Star magazine on Wednesday, charging that the US-based tabloid fabricated a story that she was pregnant with her third child.

Witherspoon sued the magazine's parent company, American Media Inc., in Los Angeles Superior Court for invasion of privacy over the cover story, which appears in issues dated June 26 and is already in some stores.

The article suggested that Witherspoon, 30, was unwilling to tell producers of her upcoming films that she was pregnant and was hiding her changing body under 1920s-style swimsuits, baggy clothing and "Empire-waist dresses."

The actress, who filed the lawsuit under her full name of Laura Jean Reese Witherspoon, sought unspecified general and punitive damages in the lawsuit, which asserts that she is not pregnant and that the story hurt her reputation it implied that she was dishonest with the producers.

Representatives for American Media could not be reached for comment on the lawsuit late on Wednesday.

Witherspoon, who landed her first major film role at the age of 14 and has since become one of Hollywood's most bankable stars, won a best actress Academy Award this year for her role in "Walk the Line."