In late 2001, Ms. Ryder was caught walking out of a Saks Fifth Avenue with around $5,000 worth of merchandise.  Now, nearly six years later, she is speaking out for the first time about her notorious shopping spree.

The actress claims to have been under the influence of a prescribed pain medication during the ordeal — Oxycodone, specifically — and was having a hard time making sound decisions:

Two months prior to that, I broke my arm in two places, and the doctor…was giving me a lot of stuff, and I was taking it at first just to get through the pain.  And there was this weird point when you don’t know if you are in pain but you’re taking it.  It isn’t a reckless [state], like you’re out of your head. It’s just confusion.

Then, Ryder just shut down and never released a statement, merely pleading not guilty in court and letting it ride out:

The attention was what was embarrassing.  It was the December after Sept. 11…So much attention was being paid to me, when we had just been attacked, and there was all this really important news going on.

And although the actress admitted to wrongdoing, she claimed not to feel any tremendous sense of guilt.  However, Ryder says that had someone been hurt, the ordeal would have played out much differently.

So what is she up to now?  Well, after a career lain practically dormant for years, Ryder is about to return to the business in full force with at least three films coming this year alone.

One can’t help but applaud Ryder for finally spilling her guts — she was obviously ashamed and, being in public eye, didn’t know how to articulate her regret.  I also question whether the public would have been ready to look past the shoplifting at any point before now.  However, I find it interesting that this catharsis coincides with her return to Hollywood, rather than a genuine desire to unload her burden. 

Whatever the case, Winona is back.  We’ll see her first in the upcoming ensemble comedy The Ten.