Friday, February 27, 2009

Gwyneth Paltrow Defends Her Website

Gwyneth Paltrow is taking on critics of her lifestyle website, Goop.com, just days after The New York Times published an article questioning the site's relevance in light of a barrage of published swipes against its cardio-workout and pizza-recipe content. Also under attack: the site's perceived omniscient tone.

"I think the people who are criticising it or criticising the idea of it, don't really get it, because if they did, they would like it," Paltrow, 36, said Wednesday night at a New York City benefit she hosted for Bent On Learning, a non-profit organization which arranges yoga and meditation classes in the city's public schools.

Yet as The Times noted, "many critics find the enterprise fatuous and a bit puzzling." Typical is a query from Toronto's The Globe and Mail: "Why is it called Goop?" its writer asked. "Perhaps 'Any Old Load of Rubbish' and 'Learn From Me, Ungrateful Peasant' were both taken."

Paltrow said she believes some of the barbs simply stem from the fact that she's doing something new and different. "I think that people like people to stay in their 'box' - they like people to stay how they are comfortable seeing them."