A mere six days ago, lifestyle brand queen Gwyneth Paltrow made it explicitly clear that she is all for Meghan Markle’s recent venture into the lifestyle world. For reference, Gwyneth launched her brand Goop back in 2008, and is undeniably one of the leading faces when it comes to famous people in this particular space. However, the star was keen to make it clear that this doesn’t mean she isn’t open to other women joining her there.
And the star went on to make some pretty pointed comments about how Meghan has been treated by both the media and public in recent years, stating: “[When] there’s noise about certain women in the culture, I do have, always, a strong instinct to stand up for them.”
But despite all of that, when Gwyneth posted one of her usual home cooking videos to her Instagram page at the weekend, people reveled in the opportunity to pit her against Meghan — and drag Meghan down in the process.
In the video, Gwyneth makes gluten-free buttermilk biscuits, eggs, and crispy bacon in her kitchen. She is makeup-free and wearing her pajamas, adding a candid element to the whole vibe. She doesn’t speak in the short clip, but she added Natalie Cole’s “This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)” as a backing track to it.
Ignoring the nuance of social media posts and glossy Netflix shows being entirely different things, people immediately began to draw comparisons between Gwyneth and Meghan, with many tearing down Meghan’s chic appearance on her show, as well as the fact that it wasn’t filmed in her and Harry’s own kitchen.
These, and many other similar comments, quickly spawned news articles fueling the fire, with some tabloids claiming that Gwyneth was “mocking” Meghan, while others said that Meghan’s subsequent Instagram story reinventing the banana split with her friend was her way of “firing back” at Gwyneth.
In short, the whole thing has gotten kind of messy, and really blown out of proportion — especially as Gwyneth has been sharing these kinds of videos of herself making food in her kitchen while dressed incredibly casually for, well, years; long before Meghan’s show was even announced.
In fact, prior to With Love, Meghan’s release earlier this month, Gwyneth had posted no less than three similar videos this year — all of which would have undoubtedly been perceived as Meghan shade if the show had been out.
Gwyneth is makeup-free and wearing pajamas in each of the videos, and in one — which she posted on Feb. 15 — she even featured a shot of her wicker basket filled with produce that she’d picked from her garden, which people would undeniably have had a field day over if it’d been released in a post-With Love, Meghan world.
In short, this is all very clearly just another example of people jumping at the bit to pit two successful women against each other, exemplified by the public’s cruel desire to add to the Meghan Markle pile-on for any given reason. After all, Meghan has been subjected to years of baseless vitriol ever since she married Harry in 2018, and it shows no sign of slowing down any time soon.
Next, I’d personally love for Meghan and Gwyneth to team up for the ultimate lifestyle collaboration so that the critics can eat their words… Although, if we’re being honest, they’d probably find a way to create drama out of that, too.
