She’s either a master troll or is just that clueless and delusional. Either way, Gwyneth Paltrow has finally managed to top her frequently mocked description of her divorce as “conscious uncoupling” with her take on her role in popularizing yoga aka she basically invented it.
In an interview with WSJ Magazine, Goop CEO/founder Paltrow sipped green tea from her posh spot in Amagansett Long Island where she discussed the success of her company, which is on track to double revenues this year. Reflecting on the company’s early days, Paltrow said it was her embrace of wellness that caused people to think about her differently. “That was the beginning of people thinking I was a crackpot. Like, ‘What do you mean food can affect your health, you fucking psycho?'” she says. “I remember when I started doing yoga and people were like, ‘What is yoga? She’s a witch. She’s a freak.'”
But no, espousing a healthier lifestyle isn’t the issue as much as her penchant for making statements that epitomize tone deaf. She hit the derp jackpot in the interview when she followed up on the witch statement with the story of a visit to a new yoga studio.
After describing herself as a trailblazer, she started the story by stating, “Forgive me if this comes out wrong but…” and while many at this point would have chosen to listen to one’s internal warning system and tell a different story, Paltrow did what makes her Paltrow by blithely forging ahead, explaining, “I went to do a yoga class in L.A. recently and the 22-year-old girl behind the counter was like, ‘Have you ever done yoga before?’ And literally I turned to my friend, and I was like, ‘You have this job because I’ve done yoga before.'”
Credit her with at least having a gut feeling about the potential controversy involved in claiming to popularize an ancient practice that was first introduced in the United States in 1893, close to 200 years before she was born.
In fairness, in the same interview she did a complete 180 by revealing a humble side when she tackled the topic of life with her new husband, Brad Falchuk, whom she married in September. On Falchuk’s two teen-aged children, Paltrow admitted, “It’s pretty intense, the teenage thing. I’ve never been a stepmother before. I don’t know how to do it.”
