New Gwyneth Paltrow Tell-All Book Reveals Why She Really Cut Off Madonna—and More Bombshells
The juicy book details the real reason the two stars aren’t friends—and more!
From Shakespeare in Love to Sliding Doors and Iron Man, Gwyneth Paltrow has long been one of Hollywood’s most versatile and fascinating A-list darlings. In 2008, the star’s ambition stretched beyond the silver screen and into the world of wellness with the launch of Goop, her healthy lifestyle empire. But over the years, Paltrow’s poised—and often polarizing—ways have remained under scrutiny. Now, at 52, Paltrow is the subject of a drama-filled new biography, Gwyneth: The Biography, by journalist Amy Odell.
Packed with headline-worthy bombshells, the book cracks open decades of glitz, glamour and gossip—like what really ended her longtime friendship with Madonna, the unraveling of her relationships with Brad Pitt, Ben Affleck and more. Here, we gathered up everything to know about the buzzy biography—out now—including what Paltrow thinks about the tell-all and what actually happened on that night with Madonna. Keep scrolling for all the must-know details!
Who is Amy Odell, the author of ‘Gwyneth: The Biography’?
Amy Odell is a journalist and New York Times bestselling author of Anna: The Biography. Her bestselling book about iconic Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour was an instant bestseller and described as “a highly detailed and revelatory portrait of a very private figure.”
Odell announced her newest book, Gwyneth: The Biography, on her Substack newsletter Back Row. “Over the last three years, in the hours that I haven’t been writing this newsletter, I’ve been working on another book, which I’m thrilled to share with you now,” she said. “Thanks to YOUR support of Anna and Back Row, I’ve been able to write another biography about a woman who has, for better or worse, had a tremendous impact on culture: Gwyneth Paltrow.”
What the book is about—according to the author
“Gwyneth reveals details and insights from those who know her. It draws on interviews with more than 220 sources, including friends and colleagues from Goop and the entertainment world and beyond,” Odell continued.
“It traces her rise as the daughter of a famous actress and producer, through elite private schools, to an acting career she seemed destined for, and her pivot away from that career to start the controversial wellness and lifestyle brand Goop.”
Why did Gwyneth actually end her friendship with Madonna?
In a recent People feature, the magazine excerpted Gwyneth and the book dives deep into the star’s relationships—including her very famous friendship with Madonna. Over the years, the rumored reasons for their dissolved friendship were never clear. Paltrow, now 52, and Madonna, now 66, became friends in the late 1990s. “Everything I have gone through, she went through ten times worse and ten times longer,” Paltrow had said about Madonna in the 2000s. “She gives me good advice about how to say no and take care of myself.”
In 2003, Gwyneth married Coldplay rock star Chris Martin and a year later they had their daughter, Apple followed by their son, Moses, in 2006. But her friendship with Madonna “reached a breaking point” just a few years later. “Their relationship reached a breaking point when Madonna showed up to an island where Gwyneth and Martin were vacationing. Madonna seemed to know that Gwyneth would be there, which Gwyneth seemed to find strange, a friend remembered,” the excerpt in People revealed.
“Madonna then insisted Gwyneth and Martin join her for a big group dinner at a long table where Madonna went off on her daughter, Lourdes. Gwyneth and Martin were disgusted by the behavior. ‘I can’t be around this woman anymore,’ Martin told Gwyneth. ‘She’s awful.’ Gwyneth agreed that Madonna was toxic and ended the friendship.”
Friendships, romances, rivalries and more!
Paltrow’s friendship with Madonna isn’t the only A-list relationship detailed in Odell’s book. In fact, the book covers the gamut: family, friendships, romances, colleagues and the like. “Over the decades, she has participated in countless carefully managed interviews, but the real Gwyneth—the basis of her motives, desires, strengths, faults, and vulnerabilities—has never been fully revealed, until now,” says the book’s official synopsis.
Readers can expect a behind-the-scenes look into Paltrow’s one-time friendship with Winona Ryder, her famously hot and heavy romance with Brad Pitt from 1994 to 1997, her relationship with Ben Affleck, which started in 1997 and continued through 2000, among others. According to the book, Paltrow spoke candidly about her romantic relationship with Affleck to her makeup artist Kevyn Aucoin. “She spoke openly about how much she enjoyed their sex life—it was the ribald side of her that her friends knew well but that the public didn’t see,” Odell writes.
Why Gwyneth never responded to the tell-all
Although Paltrow knows about Odell’s book, she did not participate in the book’s creation and she declined to be interviewed by the author. However, Paltrow’s team is aware of the project and many of her friends and colleagues were interviewed by the author.
“Based on exclusive conversations with more than 220 sources, including close current and former friends and colleagues, this deeply researched biography provides insight and behind-the-scenes details of her relationships, family, friendships, iconic films, and tenure as the CEO of Goop,” the book’s official synopsis reveals.
And according to Odell: “The book covers a wide range of subjects including nepotism, the changing media industry, the celebrity brand boom, the celebrity-fashion industrial complex, the evolution of Hollywood, the rise of wellness as a massive for-profit business that became part of American politics, medical misinformation, and much more.”
When and where to read ‘Gwyneth: The Biography’?
Gwyneth: The Biography is out now. Pick it up here or wherever books are sold!
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