Charlize Theron, the Oscar-winning actress, has disclosed that she never Googles herself because outside interest in her private life is “like being raped”.
The South African-born actress told Sky News that "every aspect" of her life has become "fodder" for a brand of journalism that exists "in a dark room".
She said: "I don't (Google myself) - that's my saving grace.
"When you start living in that world, and doing that, you start feeling raped."
Asked whether she meant to express the sentiment as strongly as that, she replied: "Well, when it comes to your son and your private life. Maybe it's just me.
"Some people might relish in all that stuff but there are certain things in my life that I think of as very sacred and I am very protective over them.
"I don't always win that war but as long as I don't have to see that stuff or read that stuff or hear that stuff then I can live with my head in a clear space, which is probably a lot healthier than living in that dark room."
Ms Theron, who won an Oscar for her role in 2003 movie Monster, is in London to promote her new film A Million Ways To Die In The West, in which she stars opposite Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane.
On Thursday she was photographed with her young son and partner Sean Penn.
The photographs showed them leaving Claridge's hotel in a taxi the night before.
She said: "I can't be concerned about what some idiot is going to write online about my short skirt, I can only take responsibility for myself.
"There is a part of my job that is incredibly lovely - to fly first class to London, to be able to do that with my son and my family and I am definitely not jaded by any of that.
"My job has made my life incredibly blessed and good and I am very grateful for that, but it does not mean that every aspect of my life all of a sudden becomes fodder for an article.
"I try to protect against that as much as I can."
However, Katie Russell, a spokeswoman for sexual violence charity Rape Crisis in England and Wales, said Ms Theron’s comments trivialised rape.
"Obviously we’re always very disappointed when an influential public figure, who we consider a role model, uses thoughtless language around rape," she told The Independent.
"She is comparing something which I have no doubt is a distressing experience, but it is never helpful or appropriate to use sexual violence as a metaphor for experiences in that way. It detracts from what is a very real, and very serious experience for survivors and it trivialises sexual violence.
"So often ignorance is an explanation as to why someone might trivialise rape in this way, while it is never excuse.
"But for someone who actually has some understanding of the lifelong impact sexual violence has on its survivors, it is extremely disappointing."
Ms Theron has herself long been a spokesman for ending sexual violence against women, particularly in her role as UN Messenger of Peace.
She is not the first person to draw such parallels between press intrusion and sexual assault.
Kristen Stewart issued an apology in 2010 after she claimed that seeing photographs of herself in gossip magazines was like "looking at someone being raped".
Actress Gwyneth Paltrow hit the headlines on Thursday for comparing being trolled on the internet to surviving a war.
Speaking ahead of her appearance at the Code technology conference in California on Tuesday, she said: "You come across [comments] about yourself and about your friends, and it’s a very dehumanising thing. It’s almost like how, in war, you go through this bloody, dehumanising thing, and then something is defined out of it."
"My hope is, as we get out of it, we’ll reach the next level of conscience," she concluded.