Gwyneth’s harshest critic speaks to Grazia
Harmless information offering women alternative health advice or dangerous, pseudoscience? Here, Goop’s fiercest critic speaks to Grazia
IT’S SOMETIMES HARD to remember a time when Gwyneth Paltrow wasn’t synonymous with $66 jade eggs, vaginal steaming, ‘earthing’ (walking around barefoot, to you and I), sex dust and kale.
It’s even harder to remember a time when the actor wasn’t mocked for her claims of their benefits. Since the launch of her lifestyle offering, Goop, in 2008, she’s been hit by countless accusations that the website is ‘scientifically illiterate’, the products it promotes are too expensive and its advice is hypocritical.
But amid the criticism, Gwyneth and her team maintained a dignified silence – until last month. In a blogpost: ‘Uncensored: a word from our doctors’, the website took aim at its detractors, saying, ‘Being
dismissive – of discourse, of questions from patients, of practices that women might fifind empowering or healing, of daring to poke at a long-held belief – seems like the most dangerous practice of all.’
Goop had one target in particular: Dr Jen Gunter, a Canadian gynaecologist based in San Francisco. Dr Gunter has spent 18 months debunking what she sees as the ‘pseudo-science’ on Goop on her own blog (posts include ‘Dear Gwyneth Paltrow, we’re not fucking with you we’re correcting you, XOXO Science’ and ‘Gwyneth Paltrow and Goop still want you to put a jade egg in your vagina. It’s still a bad idea.’).
Goop accused her of being ‘strangely confident’ and argued that she was ‘ridiculing women’ seeking alternative health advice. Dr Gunter hit back that she was ‘appropriately’ confident thanks to 20 years’ experience as a doctor. So why has she made it her mission to take on Goop?
‘The first thing I became aware of was their promotion of vagina steaming,’ she tells Grazia in an exclusive interview. ‘That was the most dangerous thing I have seen on it. It could introduce air vaginally, potentially damage the good bacteria or allow bad bacteria to grow. It could also expose you to allergens and cause burns.’
On jade eggs, which Goop says are ‘used by women to increase sexual energy, health and pleasure’, Dr Gunter says they’re potentially harmful for pelvic floor muscles and could even cause toxic shock syndrome.
‘Goop had a piece on the power of infrared saunas – which can cost $5,000 – and basically intimated that it is almost as effective as chemotherapy. So you can imagine someone who’s got cancer thinking, “Maybe I should buy that.”
‘What it really does is drive readers into the arms of these people who are practising in a non-evidence-based medical way. Giving people incorrect information is the opposite of empowerment. I can’t not take a swing at it.’
Women, she feels, are particularly vulnerable to such claims – especially when it comes to the site’s dietary advice. ‘Women are so susceptible to ideas about body image and weight loss. It can be very hypocritical and can scare people into thinking they have a parasite or that they need to do a goat milk cleanse.
‘I definitely think this is about the cult of Gwyneth, too: celebrity sells.’
It comes after the brand opened a popup ‘Goop boutique’ in the Hamptons last month, offering Goop’s own products in a space inspired by the Cornwall seaside. It’s the latest indication that, despite consistent backlash, Goop is thriving. In 2016, it raised $15 to $20 million in venture capital before announcing it was bringing out a range of vitamins – at $90 for a one-month supply. Then, earlier this year, it launched its inaugural In Goop Health summit, where 500 women bought tickets that cost up to $1,532 for the chance to sip collagen-infused cocktails with GP herself. A second, in New York, has already been announced, and a Goop magazine is on its way.
Despite planning to step down last year, Gwyneth is still its biggest star (at the time, she said, ‘How can I separate myself from the brand? My dream is that one day no one will remember that I had anything to do with it,’ – before becoming CEO in March).
So with no sign of Goop slowing down, how would Dr Gunter like to see it change? ‘It’s almost impossible to talk about healthcare appropriately then sell products – it’s unethical,’ she says. ‘You need to decide: are you an apothecary or are you an informationdelivering site? And I think they need to differentiate between the two.’
And her final message to Gwyneth? ‘A lot of people are paying attention to you: you have a duty of care.’