This article has been updated since its original publication.
Actress and new-age wellness enthusiast Gwyneth Paltrow has been called an “extortionist” for having people pay $5,700 to her wellness summit in London that turned out to be little more than a sales pitch for her company, Goop — while Paltrow remained absent throughout most of the event.
“One attendee told us that a prominent British guest was so appalled by the aggressive Goop hype that she sent a WhatsApp message to fellow attendees saying, ‘GP [what the Goop community calls Paltrow] is a f ***ing extortionist,'” reports Page Six. “Those at the event this weekend were urged to book rooms through Goop at $1,300 for two nights at the Kimpton Fitzroy London Hotel, but some later discovered that rates that weekend started at $250 a night.”
The few times that Gwyneth did appear at the summit, one guest described her as being a pretentious snob who hijacked wellness rhetoric to line her pockets. Not once, they allege, did she appear without an armada of security around her, nor did she make herself approachable to the people who had paid upwards of $6,000 to attend the summit.
“Gwyneth acts like she’s a health goddess, but actually she’s a pretentious, greedy extortionist. She had a ton of security …. She was unapproachable,” the summit guest told the outlet. “She did the minimum — a few fireside chats with Twiggy and Penelope Cruz, then she put on her Birkenstocks and snuck out … I was a huge fan of Gwyneth; now I feel like I have lost my faith in God.”
The event featuring Paltrow essentially boiled down to her dishing out wellness platitudes, like “creativity with your hands is like channeling God,” while a merchandise store charged people $55 for a vibrator named “The Millionaire” because it apparently “feels like a million bucks.”
A Goop representative refuted the claims to Page Six, arguing that the high price included free extras such as “golden facials and ‘far-infrared gemstone therapy,’ as well as health panels not connected to Goop.” The representative also claimed that Paltrow made herself approachable in other Q&A settings.
“In addition to walking around the summit, she also hosted an intimate workout class with Tracy … followed by … a panel, where she and Tracy answered attendee questions in an honest, casual setting,” the representative said. “We have not received negative feedback … [It] was more along the lines of, ‘Thanks for an amazing weekend!’ ”
Whether or not Gwyneth Paltrow delivered on her promises, people willing to spend that much money on her health summits should have been aware of the fact that her so-called “wellness” company has been severely scrutinized by the medical and science community for giving people faulty advice.
“When it comes to health tips, the site is full of dodgy information, with unfounded warnings about things that are safe — like bras and sunscreen— and zealous promotion of things with little-to-no proven benefits — like cleanses and vaginal steaming, not to mention various trendy diets. Some of the alternative medicine practices on the site could even be dangerous,” reports Business Insider.
UPDATE:
In an email to The Daily Wire, a representative from Goop denounced the original Page Six story as “inaccurate” for not including the full statement from the company in defense of Gwyneth Paltrow.
“The overwhelming response to our London Summit was incredibly positive. It should be noted that the actual value of the weekend package was over $8000,” said the full Goop statement. “The cost included a hotel suite (valued at $1600) and a gift bag valued at $3000, among other items. During the event, Gwyneth opened the day, conducted three fireside chats (almost half the day’s panels) and hosted a workout and Q & A the next day.”
The representative also clarified the reason behind the high costs, noting that Page Six provided just three statements out of 250 people.
“These statements to Page Six are from three attendees (out of 250), and are not representative of the actual response to the event,” the rep said. “The $200/ night hotel room mentioned in the original story was an urban double, and not inclusive of VAT or breakfast, while our guests had the highest category room inclusive of both, hence the discrepancy in price.”