Reese Witherspoon: I Told Cop I Was Pregnant During Arrest

Reese Witherspoon appeared on Good Morning America Thursday to talk about her new movie Mud, but George Stephanopoulos opened the interview by addressing "the elephant in the room": Witherspoon's arrest for disorderly conduct two weeks ago, after her husband Jim Toth was pulled over on suspicion of DUI.

The Oscar winner blamed her and her husband's arrests on "poor judgment."

TV Scorecard: What's renewed? What's canceled?

"We went out to dinner in Atlanta, and we had one too many glasses of wine. We thought we were fine to drive, and we absolutely were not," Witherspoon said. "It's just completely unacceptable and we are so sorry and embarrassed. We know better, and we shouldn't have done that."

Witherspoon was arrested after she disobeyed the arresting officer's orders to stay in the car. According to the arrest report, she said to the officer, "Do you know my name? You're about to find out who I am."

The actress told Stephanopoulos that she was mortified by her actions. "I have no idea what I was saying that night," Witherspoon said, adding that she "panicked" when she saw Toth being handcuffed. "I said all kinds of crazy things. I told [the officer] I was pregnant. I'm not pregnant. ... I was so disrespectful to him."

Get the scoop on 39 must-watch season finales

The most difficult thing about the incident, Witherspoon said, was having to explain it to her older children, Ava,  13, and Deacon, 9. (She also has a 7-month-old son, Tennessee James, with Toth.)

"You just have to be honest with them," she said. "We are taking responsibility and doing everything in our power to make it right."

Watch Witherspoon's full Good Morning America interview here: