Her son Deacon Phillippe, 22, shared a glimpse of his mother’s western-themed party on Instagram, writing, “Happy birthday 2 my mom, who happens to be the goat,” for his nearly 500,000 followers. Ava Phillippe, 26, also celebrated her mom, posting a touching cheek-to-cheek photo and captioning it, “Happy 50th, Mama! We are so blessed to love & be loved by you & to feel the warmth of your sunshine in our lives.”
Phillippe, who shares Deacon and Ava with Witherspoon from their nine-year marriage that ended in 2008, joined the Instagram comments with a blushing smiley face emoji. Reese also shared her 13-year-old son Tennessee Toth with ex-husband Jim Toth.
In the photos and video snippets, the actress dazzled in a sparkly, fringed white mini dress, while her sons embraced the western theme with cowboy hats—Deacon topping his outfit with a wide-brimmed black hat, a dark cable-knit sweater, and khaki trousers, even DJing part of the party. Ava looked elegant in a fitted black lace dress with a waist-cinching belt.
Another black-and-white image captured Witherspoon holding an espresso martini as the wind blew through her hair, with Ava writing over the photo, “It’s this beauty’s birthday!”
In October Witherspoon took to Instagram to wish Deacon a happy birthday.
‘Happy 22 to my wonderful son @deaconphillippe,’ she wrote in a caption, which accompanied four photos.
One image showed him behind DJ decks and the following three were rare snapshots of the Little Fires Everywhere star and her son together.
She continued in the birthday note, ‘I love you so much, buddy,’ as her son replied in the comments: ‘Love u mama.’
Meanwhile, ex-husband Phillippe wrote, ‘We did good,’ adding a prayer hands emoji.
Deacon appeared onscreen alongside his dad in the 2025 Prime Video series Motorheads.
For her part, Ava studied social welfare at UC Berkley before graduating in 2022 and becoming a model.
‘My parents have always encouraged me to choose the path that’s right for me and, you know, guide me along the way to make better choices than I might make,’ the nepo baby told Daily Pop in 2021.
