Gwyneth Paltrow is known to preach wellness and self-care today, but her early years were anything but zen, a bombshell new biography claims.
The actress and Goop founder, 52, mocked her classmates, iced out friends, and once gave Winona Ryder the savage nickname ‘Vagina Ryder’, in one of several brutal Hollywood fallouts, according to the book.
In Gwyneth: The Biography – published July 29 – journalist Amy Odell reveals Paltrow was once close friends with Ryder but grew to despise her after suspecting her of fabricating stories for attention.
At the time, Paltrow was dating Ben Affleck and Ryder was dating his best friend, Matt Damon – making the two couples a Hollywood power foursome until the actress’s friendship with the pair soured.
According to Odell, Paltrow also harbored disdain for Damon’s co-star Minnie Driver, believing that the English actress had an ‘air of faux British aristocracy’.
After organizing a birthday party for Driver in 1997, Paltrow is alleged to have rolled her eyes and made a vomiting gesture when the actress wasn’t looking, the book states.
Gwyneth Paltrow and fellow actress Winona Ryder were once close friends, even sharing an apartment together in the late 1990s
A new unauthorized biography of the actress revisits Paltrow’s privileged upbringing, ruthless rise to fame, and her petty grudges with other celebrities
The biography also revisits Paltrow’s discomfort while filming 1998 crime thriller A Perfect Murder opposite co-star Michael Douglas, who was cast as her husband despite being almost 30 years her senior.
Paltrow, then 25, was reportedly uneasy with their romantic scenes, finding the experience ‘creepy’.
Odell’s unauthorized biography of Paltrow has already seen explosive revelations about her previous relationships, including those with Brad Pitt and ex-husband Chris Martin, which Daily Mail has exclusively reported.
But the book also delves into her privileged upbringing, ruthless climb to fame, and petty grudges with fellow Hollywood heavyweights.
In the late 90s, Paltrow’s star was on the rise although she had not yet starred in the role that would earn her the Oscar for Best Actress – Shakespeare in Love.
Yet Odell writes that she had a habit of burning through friends on her way to the top, and that included Ryder.
Gwyneth: The Biography, by Amy Odell, published on July 29 by Gallery Books, provides insight into the life of one of Hollywood’s most polarizing stars and original ‘nepo’ babies
After breaking up with Brad Pitt in 1997, Paltrow moved into Ryder’s house, apparently for consolation from her friend, but their friendship would soon crumble.
According to the book, following an argument between Ryder and then-boyfriend Damon, Ryder left their New York apartment to say she had been robbed.
Then Ryder left the home a second time, came back and claimed she had been robbed again.
While Damon was sympathetic, Paltrow was convinced it was a ploy for attention and from there, the friendship deteriorated.
‘Damon consoled her but Gwyneth and Affleck believed Ryder fabricated the robberies as a ploy for attention (there’s no proof of this),’ the book states.
‘Gwyneth was annoyed that Damon couldn’t see it. Though Damon was kind to her friends, Gwyneth didn’t seem to like him after that.
Paltrow had a habit of burning through friends on her way to the top, including Winona Ryder and her then-boyfriend Matt Damon, according to the book
The actress dated Damon’s close friend Ben Affleck, making the two couples a Hollywood power foursome at the time
‘Her friendship with Ryder would only deteriorate further, and Gwyneth gave her the nickname “Vagina Ryder”.’
Ryder and Damon began dating after the actor had split with Driver, whom he met on the set of the movie Good Will Hunting.
Driver would later claim that she only realized Damon had dumped her when he went on the Oprah Winfrey Show and said he was single.
But Paltrow told friends that this was ‘untrue’.
‘Gwyneth understandably wanted to take her boyfriend’s friend’s side but she also seemed to sour on Driver,’ Odell writes.
She considered Driver an ‘air-kiss friend’ and disliked her alleged ‘fake’ aristocratic persona.
Paltrow had also harbored disdain towards actress Minnie Driver due to her ‘fake air of British aristocracy’, the book claims
Damon began dating Ryder after splitting with Driver, his co-star and love interest in 1997 film Good Will Hunting
Once while doing a photo shoot at a rented house in Los Angeles, Paltrow swallowed her distaste for Driver and organized a last-minute birthday party for her.
‘When Driver wasn’t looking, Gwyneth rolled her eyes to friends and mimed vomiting by putting her finger in her mouth,’ the book states.
Paltrow’s icy reputation apparently extended to her on-set experiences, particularly while filming A Perfect Murder, according to the author.
Though co-star Michael Douglas had been a longtime family friend – through Paltrow’s late father, director Bruce Paltrow – the prospect of doing a nude scene with the then 53-year-old actor was too much.
Odell writes that Paltrow ‘hated’ working with Douglas and found the ‘whole experience creepy’.
Paltrow later said that she thought the whole thing was a joke between her father and Douglas, describing it as a ‘guy thing’ between them.
The biography also revisits Paltrow’s discomfort while filming 1998 crime thriller A Perfect Murder opposite co-star Michael Douglas, who was cast as her husband despite being almost 30 years her senior
Paltrow, then 25, was reportedly uneasy with their romantic scenes, finding the experience ‘creepy’
Odell quotes somebody who worked closely with Paltrow at Miramax as saying that in reality, she was more uncomfortable than she let on.
In fact, Paltrow refused to fly back to Los Angeles for reshoots, prompting director Andy Davis to fume over the costly delays.
According to the book, Davis said: ‘Douglas was sort of saying, “Who is this prima donna that she won’t come back to LA?”
‘It’s going to cost us millions of dollars to rebuild this set in London’.
Paltrow’s attitude resurfaced on the set of Shakespeare in Love in 1998 where she seemed deeply unimpressed with the production, despite filming taking place in a full size recreation of Shakespeare’s Globe the 16th century theater in London where the playwright’s plays were originally staged.
One person who worked on the film remembered Paltrow was chewing gum on set and was ‘looking like she didn’t want to be there’.
She was overheard saying ‘I’m so over this’, but it wasn’t clear if she meant the UK, the film, or both.
Elsewhere in the book there is an eye-popping and at times scathing account about Paltrow’s privileged life as perhaps the ultimate ‘nepo baby’.
Her mother was screen legend Blythe Danner and her father was a director, meaning she grew up on the sets of films her parents were creating.
According to the book, before the age of 10 Paltrow ‘noticed early on that the world was eager to give her what she wanted and she didn’t need anyone’s permission to get it’.
At Spence, the elite, $68,000-a-year prep school in New York that Paltrow attended, she was known to be ‘polarizing’ and sometimes ‘cruel’.
Former pupils noticed that Paltrow was ‘remarkably adept at reading people’ and smart enough to make ‘devastating comebacks’ when they tried to mock her.
Everyone was ‘terrified of her and in awe of her and wanted to be her’, former classmates told Odell.
The book claims that Paltrow, who remained thin throughout her youth, once fat-shamed another student with an unsubtle comment about her appearance.
Paltrow supposedly told another girl: ‘Isn’t it interesting how different people’s bodies are?’
Part of the reason for Paltrow’s ‘supernatural confidence’ was that she was born into ‘Hollywood royalty’, Odell says.
Her godfather was Steven Spielberg, who she referred to as ‘Uncle Morty’: he got her one of her first big breaks in Hook, which came out in 1991.
Paltrow’s father treated her like a ‘female Jesus Christ’ and spoiled her so much he joked she didn’t know how to turn right on a plane because she was so used to turning left to get to First Class.
Paltrow had a privileged upbringing having been born into ‘Hollywood royalty’ as the daughter of actress Blythe Danner and late director Bruce Paltrow; pictured in 1997
Apple Martin, 21, Paltrow’s daughter with Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin, has had a similar life of privilege and wealth
Discipline appears to have been light in Paltrow’s house and she was allowed to stay out late partying and miss school.
When the school would call up Paltrow was so brazen that she pretended to be her mother but didn’t last long and was ordered back to class.
But Paltrow’s spotty academic record became an issue when it came time to go to college.
After being rejected by Vassar for poor grades, her parents turned to a family friend to get her into the University of California.
Michael Douglas duly stepped up, made the call, and Paltrow was admitted – but dropped out after a year to pursue acting.
It would start a remarkable glide to fame and wealth which Paltrow still rides today, including a careful control over her image.
Odell’s previous book was about Anna Wintour and says that trying to get people to talk about Paltrow was more difficult than the Vogue editor, who provided some friends to speak on her behalf.
According to Odell, people who used to work for Paltrow were ‘terrified’ of speaking about her.
‘Her Goop staff seemed cagier than many of Wintour’s former employees’, Odell says.
Some had seen Paltrow ‘take action’ against those who had crossed her in the past.
As Paltrow herself has said: ‘I can be mean. I can ice people out and I can definitely harbor revenge’.
Daily Mail has reached out to Paltrow for comment about the book.
