This is going to come as a shock to you. You might want to sit down. It turns out that Gwyneth Paltrow was always a smug, elitist a—hole, even when she was very, very young. She was the original Mean Girl. She always believed that she was a princess destined to be recognized as the best and the most beautiful in all the land. And what’s funny is that even at an age when most girls are struggling with self-esteem issues and body image issues, Gwyneth was exactly the kind of smug narcissist you would imagine her to be. Imagine mini-Goop, telling her private school classmates that she was cast as a princess because that’s just who she is real life. That’s what really happened.
Gwyneth Paltrow has been earning reputation as a woman not to mess with in Hollywood but RadarOnline.com has exclusively learned that her “mean girl” ways started all the way back in middle school, where she was one student that the other girls were always afraid of.
While a teenager, the a-list actress attended a tony private school in Los Angeles and she was apparently always as self-important as she is now.
“Gwyneth always seemed like she thought she was better than the rest of us,” a former classmate told Radar about the GOOP founder.
“She was in a play where she had the princess role and she told another girl in school that ‘of course’ she was playing that role because she was a princess and the other girl was not and that’s why she didn’t get the role. No one was surprised, she was so smug, even back then.”
Embroiled in a months-long scandal about an interview that she thwarted in Vanity Fair, the source said former friends were anxious to see what Graydon Carter was going to print about Gwyneth and were “disappointed” the history that they had with her never came out.
Decades later, the source said now that the Park Avenue princess has moved her family back to LA the girls she was mean to when she was younger haven’t changed their opinions of her.
“A group of women that didn’t get along with Gwyneth back in the day want nothing to do with her now. They still live in LA and have no interest in hanging out with her or being friends at all!”
On one side, I’m disappointed that we’re only getting these silly “Gwyneth was a bitch in high school” stories. I mean, does it even matter now? Of course not. It only matters if she’s still the same petty high school Mean Girl that she was back then, which… I mean, SHE IS. But I’d still rather hear about some of Gwyneth’s more recent transgressions. I want to know which member of Goop’s team is leaking damaging info about her. I want to know whom she’s fooling around with these days.
Now, that being said, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if Gwyneth’s former classmates – who are now probably members of the LA Mommy Mafia – have shunned her hard in LA. But Gwyneth doesn’t care. Because she’s a princess and they’re not.
Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame/Flynet.
Do hold a grudge for what happend over 20 years ago in high school seems pretty mean to me.
I agree. It makes them look every bit as petty and mean as she (allegedly) is.
God, this is so dumb. I was a bitch in middle school, too.
I don’t think it’s holding a grudge, it’s just an observation and an answer to a question they were asked.
I have a couple of fellow students from college that were complete assholes as people. No, I don’t think about them each day, but whenever I come across articles that discuss friendships, yes these experiences are remembered, but then I also remember how much better off I am today.
I think her ex high school cohorts may be similar. Their point is that some personality traits never change.
But they DO change. There was a group of girls in my teenage life who were mean and miserable, but I would never assume they didn’t grow or change in all these years. I assume they did, or I hope for their sake they did. God, when I look back at my 22 year old self, I want to vomit. I wasn’t mean, but I thought I knew everything and I cringe at some of the prissy little things I said. The universe slammed me to the mat and said, “girl, you don’t know anything.” Lol. I would hate for people to judge me solely on who I was then.
Well it doesn’t seems as if Gwyn has had much growth. She was insufferable back then and she’s still insufferable today.
It’s one thing to be immature and say silly things, but meanness, like cruelty, but a milder form, is a trait. I’ve known some mean people for decades. They don’t change that much.
Well, you do both make good points, now that I think about it.
I’m with Evi here. The Mean girls group in high school never changed, ever. And I speak about two decades ago………….
“Just an observation” made to a tabloid. I call it a grudge. I didn’t like everyone in high school but I sure as hell wouldn’t talk about it to some newspaper 20+ years later.
The whole: “they don’t have interest in hanging out with her” thing sounds immature beyond anything.
I’m with those here that think most mean tweens become mean adults. They are just mean. We were all immature and silly back then, but we weren’t all mean. I have run into old classmates and most seem very much the same as I knew them in school, but just grown up. The nice ones are still nice – maybe not as shy as they’ve come into their own, but the mean ones – still mean, still pretending they are superior to hide their insecurities. It must be a coping mechanism they learn early on but don’t seem to ever learn different ways of coping.
If you need another example of rotten high school personalities that haven’t changed in any way for the better, consider Sarah Palin – the perennial mean girl from Wasilla – and what she still is up to today.
I was bullied in school, and while I don’t spend much of my time thinking about the experiences, I definitely remember who my bullies are. Some of them have become better people and some of them haven’t.
+1. I remember well the people who bullied me. And the one girl who used her size to bully me and almost beat the cr@p out of me once, later became anorexic to the point that she had to be sent away to a special treatment facility twice. That karma really does know how to come back around, doesn’t she?
Yes, so true. You never forget bad experiences from being a child/teen. Those times you were bullied really stay with you. Although, you hope those bullies grew up to be good people, the majority of the type they are still jerks and haven’t changed much. Sad but true.
Bullies are horrible! They gave me a complex about my breasts that I still deal with to this day.
I think the girls who behaved badly out of insecurity or things going on at home would have changed, generally speaking. But there are girls who are genuinely self-entitled a-holes from very young, and that is who they are. Those are the ones that don’t change. Hi Goopy!
They didn’t really even give any evidence that she did anything wrong she just “seemed” stuck up. That “I am a princess” thing sounds like a joke. If that is the best they can come up with I believe these are the mean girls.
I am a unicorn. Thats more surprising than this..
I love Unicorns.
Unicorns outrank princesses.
Oooooh Wow. Please, please be a pink one! Can I pet you?
“It’s sooooooo FLUFFYYYYYYYY!!!”
Rainbows and Unicorns. These are a few of my favorite things! 🙂
That’s great! I’ll just borrow your blood for a bit, if you don’t mind.
That’s about right. Not juicy at all. The VF stuff…now that is juicy.
Good one – Gonna watch Legend now – Mia Sara now she was a good actress 🙂
pfff. that was the air going out of this one. come on people, dig some real dirt or put the shovel away. whine.
Those girls were probably equally snobby, rude, and bratty, so go Gwyneth for taking them down a peg. Basically the richer, more famous girl beat down the other obnoxious ones and now they run to a tabloid crying about it. Grow up.
Gwyneth has tons of celebrity friends that she hangs out with regularly. Do you guys think Gwyneth actually wants to be friends with non-famous, non-super rich people? Goop has proven she thinks she’s way above everyone else. Gwyneth probably pretends she doesn’t know/remember those other girls and that gets them angry because they thought they could get revenge by shunning her, but she could not care less.
▲▲This.
Just because your parents have money and stuck you in some snobby school does not mean you were bratty and rude. Mean girls like her always look for someone to put down and separate from the herd. Someone too smart or too shy or not pretty enough or too tall or too fat, too “ethnic”, whatever. It doesn’t take much for a bully to find a target. And I find it completely credible that GOOP was a bitch and a bully with little minions around her.
Exactly Meredith….
Yes, thank you, Meredith. THIS.
Yes, Hiddles forever and MisJes, Mean Girls transcend every economic group. Sadly they are everywhere. But hopefully there are also a few girls who are strong enough to stand up to them. Not that it alters the MG world view but it does make them take a wider path around you.
Once insufferable, always insufferable, with the rare exception.
LOL sounds like they desperately want to be her friends but are doing the whole ‘didn’t want to be your friend anyway’ bit…
Radar, meh. I also doubt Goopy cares about the non-famous people.
The Shocking Shock of it all! Never could I have imagined… Neeevvvvaaaah!
I am far more interested in the LA Mommy Mafia – I didn’t know they had one. But I always suspected that Mr. Frosti’s Ice Cream Cruiser was a front for a much seedier business – the Spongebob Square Pants Soft Cone’s gum ball eyes were always a little off, if you know what I mean.
LOL!
Sweet! Love this comment. And I’ve seen those Spongebob gumball eyes.
Lol! That Spongebob ice cream off the truck freaked me out when my son was little! Now I know why!
She was a bi*ch back then, and she’s still a bi*ch now……….at least she’s consistent.
Not the first time this news has come out. I doubt anyone is surprised, in fact, I think most of the people who like Gwyneth, like her because she’s an elitest snob; she’s only interesting at all because she doesn’t give a crap of you know she knows she’s better than you.
Shocking – why do you think she is besties with Chelsea Handler, Reese Witherspoon & Jennifer Aniston? They are the original mean girls from birth and still are.
To be fair, Chelsea Handler did not grow up with privilege, she has some pretty amusing stories of her Dad’s dodgy moneymaking schemes in her books. Her brand of meangirling is based on her comedy, not her background. Reese was not quite raised in the industry the way Aniston and Paltrow were but she did come from a well off background from the sounds of it (army doctor Dad, private girls school acc. to imdb).
Anistons dad was a soap actor, hardly prestigous or wealthy for the kind of school she attended. I would imagine she was bottom of the pile among that crowd. Now people like that tend to over compensate its true but lets not pretend she was ever at Paltrows level.
I blame Blythe Danner. If you’ve ever heard Blythe talk about Gwyneth, you can just picture a childhood of Gwyneth constantly being told that she was the most specialest snowflake of them all.
But I’m the most specialist snowflake!
I never understood the “snowflake” parenting. Also, having seen the results of it up close, I am disheartened and aghast at how truly unlikeable it can make a person. Why is it parents don’t teach children that, yes, they are snowflakes, special and rare like all the other snowflakes! I really don’t get it.
Anyone think that seeing how these “snowflakes” turn out might help a turn around in our culture or am I just doing a lot of wishful thinking?
Lot of wishful thinking IMHO……
@Hiddles,
That’s what I thought 🙁
The thing about snowflakes is that they may have a higher degree of success at gaining material things but a dismal record of finding a fulfilling relationship (romantic or friendship) for long-term. I think their parents are doing them a genuine disservice. I ran into a snowflake this weekend. I was torn between dislike and pity.
I’ve definitely been raised being told I’m a special snowflake and while it’s made me very confident and ambitious it has also made me very unequipped for facing criticism and rejection by anyone other than my parents. This means that if my dad tells me I did something badly I’ll listen but if anyone else (teachers, friends, bosses) does I’ll just shrug it off and/or get defensive (I’m trying to get better at this.)
At 21 I’m only just now starting to realize that I can’t always rely on Daddy to fix everything and make my dreams come true (I’ve been very fortunate with my dad having connections for jobs, internships and opportunities in almost any field I’ve wanted.)
I don’t plan on raising my kids the way my parents raised me, because it makes me to reliant on them and a lot of people call me spolied and entitled (even though I’ve never acted superior to anyone) even though I know they did it out of love.
You restore my hope for the snowflakes of the world!
Also, at least, your well meaning parents criticized you and attempted to guide you, so many of these parents will brook nor bestow any criticism of their snowflake. This being so much the case that many mistreat their parents worse than anyone else because only their parents “have” to put up with them.
Anyway, congratulations of the self-awareness that you have brought to your own situation. More than that, it is fantastic to be willing to make a change in your own thinking and behavior. It will pay off dividends for you in the end in terms of a successful emotional life. Good luck with all of it and may you move thru it as painlessly as possible.
@GlimmerBunny: That was a great post.
I think that a lot of well meaning parents do this later to have their child see that there is always someone smarter/prettier/more talented etc. and the reality of it leads to therapy sessions in adulthood.
Goop has a brother, right? Did they spoil him equally or was Goop the special princess in tje family?
Apparently it was her father who spoilt her rotten. Creepily so, in fact. I don’t think there was anything untoward but he was extremely enabling with her.
Jesus. Whining about something from a few decades ago is not only petty but desperate. I have not given my nasty classmates a thought until this article today. Someone seems thirsty for attention and I am not talking about Paltrow.
@eliza
MTE! Paltrow is in her 40’s now. If her schoolmates are still whining about her behavior from their high school days, I think they need to be given the side-eye more than Paltrow.
I honestly doubt any of this is even true anyway because Radar is one of the bottomfeeders in the celebrity gossip world. They make up rubbish stories all. the. time.
I doubt most Goop gossip stories are true. Jon Favreau just told some movie mag that she invited him and RDJ over to her house for the screening of Favreau’s latest movie “Chef”. I doubt these two would hang out with Goop if she was nasty or mean.
That red dress is amazing!
Who cares? I still like her.
Maybe these ladies should join forces with Madonna and Beyoncé.
Who else is shocked?
It seems to me like ‘somebody’ wishes that they WERE friends with Gwyneth! LOL They just sound whiny and pathetic! Move on!
Youtube every 90s interview this is not new. She hasn’t changed.
Although it’s easy to believe the “Mean Girl” stuff, isn’t it common knowledge that she went to school in NYC – the Spence School or something like that?
Gwennie DID go to Spence School in Manhattan.
Well, she kind of IS a princess. Born into extreme wealth and an elite social class, she’s as close as we get in this country to royalty. Hardly surprising that she recognized this, and I bet she was told often enough how special she was. Not a far stretch to imagine her being a self-righteous little brat, seeing as she appears to be that girl who is forever telling people what to do and how to act, with Her Way being the one and only Right Way.
So in the immortal words of the Dude, “You’re not wrong, Gwyneth, you’re just an asshole.”
ha! the Dude abides. 😉
So does this mean that Paris Hilton is a princess as well? She was born into wealth.
Kim Kardashian will also be happy to hear her delusions of being “American Royalty” are true.
Didn’t she go to Spence in Manhattan for h.s.? She so sells herself a NYC girl through and through. So this is a middle school grudge? Yowza. This is just a money grab, were she not famous this person would have forgotten all about it. I think (some) girls who are brats in middle school mature a bit, same with h.s. Not saying she wasn’t a mean girl, and maybe still is, but she does have plenty of female friends, unlike some other stars with bad reps (cough Madonna), so she can’t be totally awful. I sure wouldn’t be able to cope with all the quinoa and designer perfection, but I’m bored of bashing Gwyneth at this point. Is she in her own ridiculous bubble? Yes, but she amuses me with it occasionally. And I do like her Patrician style.
Santa Monica. Crossroads School, before Spence, I think.
Her Royal Twatness was a douche while at school? What are the chances?
Seriously, that level of narcissism has to start really young to grown into the full level nastiness that she is now.
I am so glad my Mom never made me or my sister the center of the universe at home, that way we knew we weren’t the center of the universe out in the world. It’s a shame Blythe and Bruce didn’t dial that crap back.
Her Royal Twatness made me spill my tea LOL
Now, every time you run into someone that is the slightest bit douchey you will think ROYAL TWATNESS. It helps me get through the day sometimes.
Yes, especially the ones who always use the words ‘plebs’ or ‘peasants’. Bwahahahaha 😀
That’s an interesting point for departure, actually. I suppose what your priorities are for your children will determine whether you want to nurture their “special princess-ness” or not.
Your parents and mine and most middle-class people prioritise values such as equality and fairness and hard work and reliability and so forth. But über rich? Not so much. It is about specialness, about making it big, about being big, and then talking about how your specialness was what separated you from the unwashed masses and made you what you are today.
So, if Blythe and Bruce didn’t dial it down, it was probably because they didn’t want her to be a nice, friendly, well-balanced person. They wanted her to be a princess and to have the world at her feet where it rightly belonged. Mission accomplished.
This is why I’m not a mega movie star/celebrity (okay, one reason): I don’t believe my own specialness the way you have to to get there.
Oh, my mom and dad thought I was the bees knees. They just reminded me, everyone else is the bees knees to someone as well.
My Mom worked, went to school and had two kids. We were always a priority, just not the only one. I am just really grateful my Mom focused on things other than just her kids. I see my friends ( special snowflakes, every one) struggle with their relationships with their Mothers and I watch their Mothers struggle to try to keep control and influence because they did nothing else but keep the special snowflakes happy and now they don’t know what to do with themselves. And these are children in their 30s and 40s.
My Mother always says she made choices but no sacrifices. She and I have a great adult relationship were we are really interested in each other. In part because my Mom is just freaking interesting and we have loads of things to talk about other than me.
I do wonder how much money is a factor. I know a few rich ( like never have to work ever rich) who are focused, dedicated and great people. I know kids who come from middle class backgrounds where mom not working was a huge money pinch and they are entitled dbags.
But I am sure you are right, apples don’t fall too far. So I guess her parents did want to raise a douchebag.
I don’t know. Gwyneth is insufferable, but I have a hard time believing she used the word princess to describe herself. It’s not her usual way of speaking. Or maybe it’s just so gross I can’t imagine anyone saying that. I have no doubt she thought highly of herself, even back then, but I dunno….
It’s fine to think highly of yourself, I encourage it in everyone. It is not however fine to think poorly of others based on your supposed superiority be it for social station, looks, or wealth.
Exactly. Don’t think less of yourself, just think of yourself less.
@ Sullivan –
I love that, and will totally remember it in the future! So simple, but so true. Thanks 🙂
This isn’t the least bit surprising, but I agree, I want real dirt on Gwyneth. Her affairs and other current dirt she’s trying to hide from the public.
Once an a-hole, always an a-hole. Sure, people have the ability to change, but most do not. The a-holes in high school turned out to be adult a-holes for the most part. Some people mature and change but those people are usually the nerds and shy ones who grow up to find their voice in college or in the real world. The bullies and the mean girls usually grow up to be a-hole co-workers/bosses or snooty trophy wives.
Gwynneth is 40 and from a big city. Like those high school girls all hang with each other anymore. LOL I don’t hang out with any of my high school friends but one, nor do I keep in contact or even know anything about their lives. More like one ex-high school mate is behind this story. Silly story anyway. Is there life after high school? For some, no, that those were their glory days, cheerleader, football star, and went on to accomplish nothing.
So the rags are now going back to celeb teen years to try to find dirt on them. What next, will they go back to first grade? Not defending paltrow but it just goes to show how far the rags will go to try to print something nasty about a celeb. Whats worse, is that stories from rags like Star aka Radar Online are spread around as if they are gospel, with no one checking for accuracy before printing.
This is one of my worst nightmares – someone from school giving his/her take on what I was like to him/her.
I was self-conscious, anxious and put on a front to mask the aforementioned traits…which probably came off as bitchy.
:sigh:
Going to leave this here again because it is my favorite young gwyeneth piece: http://nancyjosales.com/stories/GwynethPaltrow2.pdf
@Frankly : That was fabulous, thanks for posting! I can kind of remember that era of Gwyneth, it’s fascinating how the journo slags off every contemporary of young Gwyneth in one fell swoop, it’s hard to imagine that happening now. The slight on Demi Moore, as IF she could do Austen, was painful. And creepy Harvey W., before everyone knew what a perv he is. Gossip gold!
It’s interesting to contrast her image with that of say the modern equivalent, Jennifer Lawrence. Jennifer Lawrence would never have gained such popularity with Gwyneth’s airs and graces in this day and age. I was young then and I don’t remember thinking G was overbearingly obnoxious, but reading that is hard to believe people swallowed such entitlement from a young age. She was so wonderfully condescending about Brad too, like he was some dumb hick man hunk she had on the side -amazing.
In other news, the earth is round.
Yawn, Gwynnie was a bitch. I could not be less surprised considering she still behaves like a ninth grade mean girl.
Even though GOOP has a reputation. I never trust ex classmates especially if a friend get popular or becomes a celeb. It’s always likely envy somewhere in there.
I remember a blurb on Goop from YM Magazine (a literary staple for preteen girls in the early 90s) in which they quoted her saying she showed up on her first day at a new school, immediately became besties with the popular girls, and “it was clear she was in tight”. Their response was , “yeah, whatever, Gwynnie.” Sounds about right.
Having said that, man, I wish everyone would magically forget every stupid thing I did when I was young.
My question is, why did chris martin married her? I cant imagine that he would marry a mean girl, hes coldplay. As a hardcore coldplayfan, i was dissapointed when he married her but i thougt, well maybe she is kind of a nice girl that just looks like a snob. And she was with brad and ben involved who doesnt come around like guys who would like mean snobby girls. But who knows. There must be somethong nice in her when chris is still with her. Hes the total opposite of her, isnt he? Why is he still with her if shes really a mean snob? I dont get it.
I think that she’s the type of mean girl that knows how to reel it in when she’s with people who she considers to be her equal, or superior. Plus she’s a subtle mean girl—remember she told that famous chef friend of hers that he needed to lose weight, at a party, under the guise of concern? She’s like that. It doesn’t necessarily mean that she’s always cruel to waiters or ‘the help’…….
Not that I have any sympathy for her, but that kind of childhood sounds lonely.
“A group of women that didn’t get along with Gwyneth back in the day want nothing to do with her now. They still live in LA and have no interest in hanging out with her or being friends at all!”
And Gwynneth said, “Who are you all? Did I know you when I was young? Don’t remember any of you…”
this is hardly news. The elitist actress who has never had to work a hard day in her life (though I am SURE she thinks she has) and feels above it all…was the mean girl at school….yeah, that is a shocker.
GOOP is a decent actor. Gotta at least give her that. The rest of her is just so offensive (and I don’t take into account some story from a disgruntled classmate) that it’s not possible to consider her a human being. Who says ‘One an A-list, always an A-list’? Who says stuff like ‘I can’t pretend to be someone who makes $20,000 a year’? This woman thinks she’s cultured but she knows nothing about society or history. She’s the ultimate American delusion/dream (and people DO want to be like her in the US): all you need is self-actualisation. This is a type of anarchism. Me, me, me, me, me. I find her a very ugly person.
The only thing that surprises me is how has she ever attained that level of vanity when her face is not attractive, at all. I remember vividly seeing Shakespeare in Love as a kid in the cinema and going “why didn’t they pick a pretty girl for Juliet?”
Money is clearly the biggest plastic surgeon and aphrodisiac and psychiatrist all rolled into one.
Actually, when you think too much of yourself, you convince the others. The “hostest” guy in my high school was less, much less than average-looking. Self-esteem is the key.
As much as I want to believe this story, I think it’s BS.
Is she really A list anymore though? Seems like maybe B list. She doesn’t get the A list roles.
Good point – I don’t really see her as a contender for big roles at all. I’d imagine she’s way down on the list when producers/directors are looking. She’s A list by name recognition, and public annoyance, only.
That said, this sounds made up or incredibly petty.
Regarding Gwyneth and her alleged affairs: I don’t think it is a member of “her team” leaking this information. More likely it is her ex best friend Madonna. Makes sense, doesn’t it?
Saw her all the time around NYC with her family and kids from school in the park etc. She was always awful and really IMO can not blame her parents. They were also after her about her rudeness, and she was always making an utter fool out of herself throwing her self after guys, trying to start new cliques after getting dumped by both. Her parents and their friends were totally responsible for giving her career but they and her brother were much more real and down to earth! She is just a not nice person….at all! Have heard through the years from friends that have gotten stuck working with her she is getting exponentially worse by the year! And many I knew then were far more privileged and are very decent human beings – they were then and are now. There are hundreds who have been waiting to bring her down. I’ve been offered money by the tabs and turned down because of her kids and I have friends that are stuck working with her – and man if you only knew! It’ll come down though and for once I will not be the sympathetic defender I always am with everyone else – she has it coming and it is long overdue for the hurt she has caused (not me- I told her to go away day after I met her – nothing worse than a phony snob – uck!
I’m sure Gwyneth is a snob. But who cares what former h.s. classmates have to say.