Gwyneth Paltrow gave an interview to the New York Times this weekend, all to celebrate the 15th anniversary of Goop, her wellness company/lifestyle site, whatever we’re calling it. I can’t believe it’s been 15 years since she started a little newsletter out of boredom when she lived in London. That newsletter has morphed into a company with 170 employees, a podcast, a beauty line, a clothing line, a wellness line, a Netflix contract, a series of summits and brick-and-mortar stores. And on and on. While there’s a focus on questions about whether Gwyneth will ever take Goop public, most of this NYT piece makes her sound like what she really is: a bored, smug elitist. It’s really well-written, actually, it captured her vibe perfectly. Some highlights:
She actually operates her company: “I don’t think that anybody thinks I actually operate my company. I think people think I’m the figurehead. I definitely operate the company, but I’ve never been a person to try to correct public opinion or a misconception. I think it’s a bit of a fruitless exercise.”
Why she started Goop: “I had a very small, nice life in North London with my mother, mummy friends and married to a rock star, which came with a set of complications. If you’re married to someone who’s a touring musician, you’re home by yourself a lot. And so I was in this little bubble with my kids, and I obviously had not wanted to travel and work and be on a set.”
She keeps a scale in her guest bathroom: Her Amagansett home has a great deal of security, including a guard dog, a house manager and a room of security cameras. The interior smells aggressively of cedar and is decorated in neutral tones of cream, with a guest bathroom that has Aesop hand soap and a digital scale.
The mockery of her diet: “About the bone broth? Oh my God. Was I aware? Apple was like, ‘Mom, you’re on TikTok.’” Ms. Paltrow said she eats three meals a day and has a broad range of what she considers healthy foods. “I think a European croissant is a superfood, by the way. Today I had a peanut butter smoothie. And for lunch we had a chopped Italian chicken salad.”
The focus on her fashion at her Utah ski trial: “I was just getting dressed and going to a pretty intense experience every day. And the sartorial outcome was so weird to me. That whole thing was pretty weird. I don’t know that I’ve even processed it. It was something I felt like I survived. Sometimes in my life it takes me a long time to look back and process something and understand something.”
Her support of Rick Caruso for LA mayor: Caruso is a wealthy real estate developer and former Republican who changed his party affiliation before entering the race. “I think I’m open-minded about everybody. I love to hear what people have to say.”
She’s open to supporting Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: “It was very interesting to hear his point of view. Since then he’s said some things that I think are tricky, let’s put it that way.” (Later, a representative for Ms. Paltrow called me to express concerns that her political views would be a focus of this article and said that she is more of an “independent thinker.”)
On the complaints about her executive style: “In terms of learning the lessons of how to be a leader, it took me a long time because I was learning on the job. Especially on the people front. If you don’t come up through a corporate culture, it’s really hard to understand how to manage people and how to set good boundaries.”
Whether she’ll take Goop public: “The burden of taking money, I took that responsibility probably too seriously. And it was hard to be the person who was both trying to grow, but also being very conservative with company funding. I was kicking the horse and pulling on the reins at the same time. But I’m so grateful now when I look back that it’s taken its time to evolve into what it is and that we didn’t have this crazy meteoric rise.”
[From The NY Times]
Why would you put a digital scale in your guest bathroom??!?! Please don’t tell me that Gwyneth weighs her guests. Jesus. The only thing I agree with here is that her court fashion shouldn’t have been the headline and it was really strange that people were obsessed with her looks during the trial. The rest of it is typical Gwyneth though, including cozying up to Republicans and GOP operatives like RFK Jr. She also acts like we aren’t aware of her completely bonkers dieting habits. Her go-to these days is just lying her ass off about what she eats.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid.
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