Reese Witherspoon has shut down rumours she's had a years-long feud with Kate Winslet

Fans quickly seized on the remark, theorising the actress in question was Kate - but Reese has now taken to her Instagram to laugh off the gossip.

She said: "Hey guys... just spoke to my very dear friend for years, Kate W. We laughed about this stupidity. Please do not believe the Internet."

"We are good friends and have never had any falling out."

Fans had linked Reese's comments about falling out with a fellow actress to a speech she gave in tribute to Winslet at the BAFTA/LA Cunard Britannia Awards in November 2007.

According to JustJared, which sourced parts of the transcript from a Reese fan site, she had joked about Kate's European sophistication at the event - saying: "I always wanted to be a European movie star, wear giant sunglasses, elaborate neck scarves, smoke hand-rolled cigarettes, and have savoir-faire and gravitas."

She continued: "Imagine my good fortune when Kate Winslet moved into my neighbourhood, rang my doorbell and said, 'Dahling, Sam is off shooting, and I believe our children are the same age. Could they possibly have a play date and oh, by the way, it's almost 9 o'clock and I've had nothing to drink, do you have any wine?'"

Kate also spoke of Kate's "fearlessness", referencing her nude scene in the 2001 film 'Iris' by saying: "When I saw her in it and she took off all her clothes and jumped into that lake, I thought, 'Wow, I bet that lake is really cold.' And then I thought, 'Wow, there's an actor without fear.'"

She also joked she could not share personal stories about Winslet because "they're all too bawdy or tawdry or drunken to tell".

According to the fan site, these anecdotes included "the time (Reese and Kate) contemplated laser hair removal and... or that time on the freeway when they pulled over and... or that really funny thing that happened when they were both in their underwear."