According to Gwyneth Paltrow, the attention-grabbing articles surrounding her divorce from Chris Martin caused her to lose her acting profession.
After over 11 years of marriage, the 53-year-old actor and the 48-year-old vocalist of Coldplay announced their separation in 2014, which they memorably dubbed “conscious uncoupling.” Despite their 2016 divorce finalization, they are still friends and co-parent their two kids, Moses, 19, and Apple, 21.
The founder of Goop is now reflecting on her public divorce and how it impacted her career. Paltrow stated on Tuesday’s episode of Amy Poehler’s podcast, Good Hang, that although she was supposed to work on a film immediately following her and Martin’s “conscious uncoupling,” the project fell through.
She said, without mentioning the film, “There was a lot of harsh stuff in the press, and I think the distributor was like, ‘This might be too hot to touch.”
“Interesting. “We don’t need the heat,” they said. Paltrow agreed with Poehler’s response.
That was fantastic, the Marty Supreme star joked. “Because I was dismissed after going through a divorce. It was really fantastic.
Poehler brought up the “big reactions” to the actor’s “conscious uncoupling,” and Paltrow stated she could see why people were upset.
“I believe that implicit learning is like, ‘Oh, f***. They’re claiming that I did something incorrectly, which was obviously not the goal,” she clarified. “The suggestion that I caused someone trouble.” It’s not pleasant to think about it. I can therefore see why it was so intimate for many.
Paltrow and Martin referred to their divorce as a “conscious uncoupling,” which is a phrase for politely and thoughtfully terminating a relationship with the goal of moving on in a constructive way, when they made their announcement.
In a 2014 blog post titled “Conscious Uncoupling” on Paltrow’s Goop website, the couple stated, “We have always conducted our relationship privately, and we hope that as we consciously uncouple and coparent, we will be able to continue in the same manner.”
The Iron Man star discussed the overwhelming negative reaction to her divorce announcement, which she didn’t anticipate at first, in a 2022 essay for British Vogue.
“The public’s shock was swiftly replaced by anger and mockery. I had never seen such a bizarre mix of fury and mockery. It had been a difficult year, and I was already rather worn out,” she wrote at the time. “To be honest, I buried my head in the sand deeper than I ever had in my very public life due to the intensity of the response.”
However, Paltrow said in a 2023 Instagram Q&A that she was proud to have announced her divorce using the term “conscious uncoupling.”
“When people approach me on the street and say, ‘Thank you for introducing that concept because I’ve become good friends with my ex,’ it makes me feel pretty proud,” she remarked. “I’m thrilled that we could contribute even a little to that cultural change.”
In 2018, Paltrow wed Brad Falchuk following their divorce. Before their June breakup, Martin dated actor Dakota Johnson for eight years.
