Reese Witherspoon buys back Hello Sunshine with Mediawan
Reese Witherspoon is buying back Hello Sunshine.
The actor and producer has partnered with Paris-based Mediawan to retake her media company, with Mediawan acquiring 100% of Hello Sunshine from Candle Media, according to Variety. The deal was confirmed on 14 October 2026.
The price is a fraction of its last valuation. Mediawan paid on the lower end of tens of millions of dollars, Variety reported. That compares with a $900 million valuation when Candle Media took a majority stake in 2021.
Witherspoon is not walking away. She is joining Mediawan's shareholder base as part of the agreement and investing alongside the group.
"I am investing alongside Mediawan and joining Pierre-Antoine Capton and his teams because it is the perfect home for the new media landscape," Witherspoon said, as reported by Variety. Capton is co-founder and chairman of Mediawan.
Mediawan is a Paris-based content group, described by Deadline as the buyer working with Witherspoon on the deal. It was founded in 2015 by Capton with Xavier Niel and Matthieu Pigasse, according to Variety. Niel is a telecom billionaire. The group is backed by KKR and Atwater.
It is a large operation. The company says it brings together nearly 100 production companies across 15 countries and produces more than 450 works every year.
Hello Sunshine is the latest founder-led company to join that stable. Mediawan bought Brad Pitt's Plan B Entertainment in 2022 and acquired Peter Chernin's North Road earlier in 2026, Variety reported. Last November it launched LuckyChap International, the London-based arm of Margot Robbie's company.
Witherspoon now sits alongside a familiar list of producer-shareholders. That group includes Pitt, Chernin, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Iain Canning and Emilie Sherman.
What makes this stand out is the structure. Witherspoon sold control five years ago. She returns now as both seller and buyer, keeping a stake in the next chapter.
