Blythe Danner did an interview with The Today Show yesterday to promote her new movie I’ll See you in My Dreams. You can see the interview here – it’s not really important, although I do enjoy Blythe in general. As she discussed her movie, she got some questions about her Goopy daughter, Gwyneth Paltrow. And Blythe sort of let it slip that she thinks she raised a woman so extraordinary that people only criticize her daughter because we’re intimidated by her.
Too much of a good thing? Gwyneth Paltrow gets a lot of flak for being, well, Gwyneth Paltrow, but her mom, for one, thinks that’s just proof of how great the actress really is. During an interview on the Today show to promote her new movie, I’ll See You in My Dreams, Blythe Danner told Natalie Morales that she thinks her daughter attracts criticism because people are “intimidated” by her success.
By her own admission, the Little Fockers star, 72, doesn’t keep up with everything that’s written about her family online. But she figures “so much of it is just trying to sell papers or whatever that’s called over the Internet.”
As for Paltrow, her daughter with the late Bruce Paltrow? “I know she’s the most extraordinary girl who can do everything,” Danner gushed of the Goop founder, a mom herself to daughter Apple, 10, and Moses, 9. “Incredible mother, she’s raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for my husband’s oral cancer foundation — things she doesn’t talk about a lot.”
Danner added that Paltrow is becoming a “great environmentalist,” telling Morales: “I’m so proud of her. I think she’s so accomplished that people get kind of intimidated by it.”
I’ve always thought the mother-daughter dynamic between Gwyneth and Blythe was interesting, but I always believed that Blythe was a pretty cool person and Gwyneth just turned out to be one of the biggest snobs and elitists in the world out of nowhere. But I think we have to admit that Blythe might have had a hand in it. Blythe was the mom telling Gwyneth at a very young age that people were just jealous of her, that they were intimidated by her amazingness. Sigh…
Photos courtesy of Getty, WENN.
Goop’s outlook and behaviour make a lot of sense if she were raised by a narcissist…
Absolutely.
Ha. +1000
Also…
Dear Blytheth, you areth not helpingeth Goopyth.
methinketh the lady doth protest too muchth
My thoughts exactly. Bruce and Blythe certainly raised a lovely Narcissist in their very own likeness.
Intimidated? Try “annoyed”.
I’m having a Michael Bluth on Ann Veal moment? We’re jealous and intimidated by Goop? Not Angelina Jolie, not Tina Fey, not Taylor Swift, not even Blake Lively or any other woman in Hollywood—just her precious, college dropout, nose in the air, has to force herself to pretend she can relate to women, conscious uncoupling awkward daughter Goop?
I’m so sure. /s
Even Gwyneth is not as delusional as her Mom, she’s been quoted as saying she was “intimidated,” by Angelina Jolie, in interviews for Sky Captain.
Well, to be fair GP is very accomplished at the frivolous things in life.
She certainly has outdone herself in illicit hookups.
Nepotism is quite an accomplishment, I guess.
That kind of nails it.
“I know she’s the most extraordinary girl who can do everything,” Danner gushed – No, she cannot do everything, no one can.
She couldn’t finish university that Steven Spielberg got her into….
Didn’t she even claim that Gwyneth was so brilliant that she could have cured cancer a couple of years ago?
Mother love goes a little to far with Blythe.
Why am I having flashbacks to Gone Girl’s “Amazing Amy”?
(shudder)
That’s Blythe “the mom” talking…and from what she is saying, seems like the all accomplished goopy apple did not fall far from the mother tree.
Some mothers have a need to have their imperfections and perceived flaws somehow righted by their children; they just refuse to believe their sons and daughters are anything but amazing, so they can be consoled for their own (perceived!!) unworthiness (sp?).
I think Blythe falls in that cathegory: she’s the “I’m not good enough, but look at my daughter! I made that” mom.
Poor Blythe.
Sorry Blythe, your daughter was born on third base. She did NOT hit a triple.
Love this! Yah, it’s easy to accomplish alot when 3/4 of it was handed to you.
So true.
Haha, good one!
Comment of the day!
Apples and trees…yeah.
Sorry, I posted before I saw this. 😀
To be fair …mom’s are never very objective when it comes to their kids 🙂
Absolutely. What else would her mum say?
I read the headline and thought “HA HA!”
Then thought about how my kids are clearly the most amazing three people on the planet, so I suppose I can’t hate on her. But I’m not intimidated, and I think GP is an entitled idiot.
This is true, but at the same time, she’s not really helping. People are annoyed by Gwenyth because she’s snooty and pretentious, so having her mother go on the Today show and say we’re all just jealous and intimidated…yeah, not so much.
True, but better to be aware enough to know when to keep your mouth shut.
You’re right, she sounds like most Moms, but I have to say, I don’t think telling your child that others are jealous of you and intimidated by you is a good thing. It’s not going to help any child if you encourage them to think they’re superior and they don’t learn how to get along with other people. It’s on obvious issue with GP, too, thanks Mom.
ugh i cant read this intimidated BS anymore. i have only ever read it from terrible people treating others terrible and then blaming it on them. maybe people avoid you for different reasons and its always a good way to start with yourself and think about what you could be doing wrong instead of actually thinking that you are soooo amazing that other people tremble in fear.
Last month, a saw a post on FaceBook from a woman I went to highschool with saying her daughter was going to prom with her girlfriends because all the boys are too intimidated by her intellect to ask her out. Back in highschool, the mom was smart, went on to be a doctor, but she was also condescending, snotty, and had a major superiority complex. Oh, and she was homely. Sometimes kids end up at the opposite end of the spectrum as their parents – personality wise, parenting styles, etc. Sometimes they become carbon copies of their parents, who make ridiculous excuses for them rather than being honest which might actually spur reflection and change.
Whereas I would say that she’s a snot head, and no one likes snot
Something about an apple and a tree. Or was it a mango from the island of Tahiti that had been blessed six times by Buddhist monk and a tree? I can never remember.
“Blythe was the mom telling Gwyneth at a very young age that people were just jealous of her, that they were intimidated by her amazingness. Sigh…”
Definitely. And there was the grandmother – on whose side? – who could not stand Gwyneth (which GP herself said) which is really weird.
I am sure there are great things about her – but it is often the *way* you do things that people are responding to.
I can understand a mother defending her child. But when said child has been told all her life from childhood that she is a “very special snowflake” and is better than everyone else and don’t worry about the ugly jealous girls, then there is a problem. Not all criticism comes from jealousy and this is a lesson she should have been taught. I now fear for Gwen’s own little “Apple” and hope she falls further from these two “I am superior” trees.
Well said. It is true, of course, a good mom isnt going to go on the Today show and say their own child is really messed up, not that she thinks that. It just does feel like there are other layers that have been laid to this foundation – as you state.
And it’s at least the second time she’s done this too. http://www.celebitchy.com/336863/gwyneth_paltrows_mom_on_hate_for_goop_people_who_sit_on_their_asses_all_day_are_jealous/ There have to be more tactful ways to support and protect your daughter (or simply defuse and deflect that line of questioning entirely) than immediately defaulting to this type of position, which seems to go beyond purely defending Gwyneth anyway. My mother would defend me until she was blue in the face. (Hopefully she would have a reason and an argument and even then she’d likely tell me what’s what in private.) But she wouldn’t ever go THERE. It’s just nonsense and not a good look. I’m not even going to get into Paltrow’s (allegedly silver-spoon, third based, Spielberg, Douglas, and lately Downey assisted) career “accomplishments” and what MANY people have had to say about her for two decades now, even before the GOOP era. Besides, (like Amal being able to dress herself), the rest are not actually extraordinary or exceptional things. You can be proud and use good parenting and charity work as examples of good character, certainly. But they also don’t tell the whole story with Gwyneth, do they? And her accomplishments shouldn’t give her immunity from all criticism. Nor is all criticism ignited by jealousy and intimidation. So, if that’s the only defense you can come up with, well…
Well, to be fair, if she was asked outright about the criticism of her daughter what else is she supposed to do? Of course she’s going to defend her. She’s hardly the first parent to have a little bit of a blind spot when it comes to their kids. It’s not like Gwyneth is killing people. I’m not going to blame her mom for sticking up for her. I still think Blythe Danner is probably a pretty cool lady.
I agree. She loves her daughter, and probably can’t imagine any other reason besides jealousy that everyone doesn’t love her, too. I can’t hate a mother for defending her daughter, and she probably honestly believes what she said.
Absolutely. Goop is entitled and out-of-touch with the “common” woman, and she drives me mad — but if I she were my daughter, I *would* be proud of her. She’s an award-winning actress, she runs a company, she raises money for cancer research, and she appears to be a good mom. Any mother would be happy that her kid turned out so well. And even if you know what your daughter’s faults are, you’re not going to air that on national television.
I really can’t believe how some of you can ignore the fact that she actually IS accomplished. She won an Oscar which is the greatest accomplishment someone in her field could ever hope for! She’s started a successful business, she’s a mother AND she’s raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for oral cancer research… I don’t get it and I’m sorry, but I think I’m going to have to agree with her mother on this one. There are a lot of people who are probably jealous of all that she has accomplished. Whether she was given a leg up or not- she’s done something with her life with what she was given. There are plenty of people who are born into positions of entitlement who never do ANYTHING worthwhile and they piss away the fortune that generations prior to them worked hard for. I don’t get the hate for this woman.
I absolutely agree with everything you said Granger!
I’m with you all on this, I can’t get upset with a parent for defending their child publicly. Maybe her parents are responsible for some of Gwyneth’s less than desirable traits but I can’t knock Blythe for this. I should hope my mother would speak glowingly of me should anyone speak against me.
I enjoy Blythe Danner.
Ever since that Columbo episode with John Cassevetes.
D y’know it was down to either her or Diane Keaton, to play the role of Kay Adams in The Godfather?
Good Lord that sounds just like Blythe, always making excuses for her kids. Poor Gwyneth, other girls are jealous because she is so pretty, other girls are afraid she will steal their boyfriends, other girls are not as intelligent and can’t keep up a conversation with her, other girls just don’t measure up to her etc., etc., Get a grip on the Goop Blythe.
Yeah, it would probably been a better idea for Blythe to deflect or make a joke of the question, but then nobody would be talking about her interview…hmmm. Whatever happened to the VF “takedown” piece on Gwyneth? I agree with those who said it was something cooked up with GP’s PR & VF for attention- “I’m so famous, they want to take me down!” – same for world’s most hated or whatever that title was. In the PR addict’s world, negative attention is better than no attention.
Agree with everything except “…other girls are not as intelligent and can’t keep up conversation with her…” Even Goop’s mother can’t possibly beleive Goops to be uber intelligent – about what? oatmeal loaves?
I don’t think that people are intimidated by her amazingness.
She enrages because mostly her social bubble can relate to her, and I can’t remember when (if ever) she explained herself, retracted on her words or showed any other sign that she cares about the public opinion. If anything Goop is amused and invigorated by the hate she gets.
I can ridicule some of her issues, but personally, can’t hate her for being aloof about her public Image.
As another poster stated, I can’t blame a parent for defending her child, but please. I always thought Blythe was more talented than Goops, but no less pretentious. People who say others are jealous when you say something negative about them are missing the point. It seems like a cop out in order to avoid insight into their behavior. And Blythe sucked as Will ‘s mom on Will and Grace.
GP is accomplished I think. She has definitely took advantage of the many opportunities her privileged life afforded her. And what is her mother supposed to say? ” yeah my daughter is so-so and out of touch with the peasants”?
She pretty much DID say that.
Judging by the body language between these two it looks as though Gweneth is barely tolerating her own mother.
And it was no secret that she adored her father. She never married until her past away.
That’s the truth, as far as I recall, she was almost estranged from her mom for a while.
I have known two people, who by most standards, had a blessed life, yet always needed to remind remind remind of this fact. They both came from great families, were attractive and smart. What I never got was why the reminders? We all knew, because we had eyes. It seemed like an insecure move but they had no reason FOR the insecurity. I have known both since high school, so twenty years. Both STILL repeat their good fortunes ad nauseam. Both have alienated countless friends. One of our friends had a child born with severe birth defects……she bragged about her child in this woman’s company and was genuinely baffled when this friend never spoke to her again. Two decades later and I still don’t get it….Gwyneth seems to have this same affliction.
You mean, head-up-own-ass-syndrome?
Chris Martin obviously does not feel the same way. Chris was probably suffocated by these two .
The only reason for that behavior is insecurity manifesting itself as narcissism. thet feel a compulsive need to validate themselves
The delusion….. People hate your daughter because she’s a rude, obnoxious, pretentious, judgemental snob who has no understanding of nor empathy for people who are not over privileged, fake poseurs like herself. Worse, being what she is, she has the cheek to lecture everyone else on how to live.
I can see where Gwyneth got her narcissism and superiority complex from.
I’m not sure it is hate as much it is people’s refusal to buy GP as being as great/superior as GP (& her mom) truly believe her to be. Myopic, selfish (& in this case, chronically rude) folks always get VERY offended if you call them on their words/behavior. So, if you don’t worship GP or are indifferent to GP, you are a “hater” and “jealous”. “Star” or not- why care so much what people think? So insecure. The PR industry LOVES these insecure narcissists.
Maybe delusion is a side effect of that bone density drug, whatitsname.
This made me laugh out loud. 🙂
Kiddo😘
have to remember this same person stated she gave up her career to raise her children when in fact she did not give it up but wasn’t the brilliant star with loads of offers, erhem, just like her daughter. blythe took any and every roll offered to her and in fact moved her family briefly to South Carolina so she could film a movie. when her husband couldn’t get the kind of work he wanted in LA and Blythe wasn’t successful on film or TV, they moved to NYC so they could try Broadway. she didn’t give up anything but used raising her kids as the reason why she wasn’t working like the mega star she wanted to be.
delusional.
gwynsufferable gets plenty of negative traits from her mom and added with her dad’s “you are the sun and moon” input she became the ego monster people love to hate.
seriously, how judgey is it to say cosmetic enhancements are ok EXCEPT lip injections? blythe is nowhere to goop levels but she is definitely mother of goop.
“I think she’s so accomplished that people get kind of intimidated by it.”
I believe Blythe was confused/drunk/drugged and meant to say ” I think she’s so aggravating that people get kind of irritated by it.” Which makes far more sense. Lucky Blythe that I’m here to interpret for her. 😎
Although I personally would have replaced ‘kind of’ with ‘extremely’.
From Salma Hayek, to Kylie Jenner to Lohan to Goop. I don’t think I even bothered reading this post after the first three. I don’t think my brain expanded from reading any of this. Vapid and elevated sense of self is what I got from these people.
Was Blythe as flaky as her daughter when she was famous? I always felt like those two were chalk and cheese, but it doesn’t sound like it here.
She was a flower child.
God, give it a rest. No-one likes Goop and that’s it. It’s not “jealousy”-she’s just annoying. It’s ironic because I used to like Gwyneth Paltrow but all this “oh why do people hate me” crap have put me off her completely.
I don’t like when people insult the masses’ opinion to shield one individual’s shortcomings. I’m sure Danner couldn’t give two rats about what any of us think of her precious daughter, but that’s her filter and right as a mother, but let’s not be delusional. Gwyneth has no humility or modesty and whether she realizes it or not, very little in common with the “common” woman. At least acknowledging the privilege she’s had would be a start with the Paltrows, but they really think Goop did it on her own and that she’s the zenith of accomplishment and effort…. That’s the most insulting part to everyone, I think, and does no one -even goop herself- any favors
“(…)she’s raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for my husband’s oral cancer foundation.”
Maybe I’m being unfair but I feel that’s a HUGE HYPOCRISY when millionaires get praised by things like this because if they really want to support a cause they could donate from their own money. Imagine if big actors donated half of what they make in each film. That’s real generosity. Just like “oh they sold those personal photos to a mag but donated the money”. If they really want to help just give away from your own bank account, otherwise you’re just feeding your ego and enhancing your public image. This isn’t just about Goop, it’s about rich celebrities in general who sell themselves like these altruistic beings. UGH.
To be fair, celebrities do attract attention and donors to charities, as that is the bottom line for any charity, I will happily praise her for any fame whoring she does for a charitable cause.
Praising is not the same as considering a start as some sort of Mother Theresa. Many don’t do anything for a cause unless there are photogrphers and PR people involved.
Well…. I can confidently say that I for one am neither jealous of nor intimidated by Gwynny Mousetrap or whatever her name is. She has nothing I value as markers of an accomplished woman. She is shallow, vapid, a dull snore who hasn’t amounted to much of anything in spite of having been born with a silver spoon in her mouth! Jeez! I know of so many women who have achieved so much more with so little. So I would go as far as to say that given the conditions she was born into, she has failed.
IMHO, this sort of adoration, sheltering or carte blanche from a parent is lethal to the intellectual and emotional growth of a child. And so, Gwynny is still 13 and a prom-queen-princess wannabe. It’s really pathetic in a grown woman!
Really? I’m curious about all the women that you know who have accomplished things that are SO much greater than what gwenyth has done? Seriously. Whether you like her or hate her (which you obviously hate her) you can’t minimize what she has done.
Crystal, I can minimize what she’s done in a heartbeat : she was born rich and overcame NOT ONE hardship. Not one. Give me a woman who is working two jobs and raising kids while getting her degree over ol’ Gwyneth any day. There are literally thousands of women completely unknown who have and are doing greater things with their lives. Sometimes, they even get written about. (That’s sarcasm BTW.) Gwyneth won an Oscar, true. But then so did Halle Berry.
Thank you for that, CatFoodJunkie! My own mother is much better example of what you’re talking about, , than Paltrow or her mother. She was a single mother most of her life, had to work her way up in the Civil Service, and is still working a hell of a lot harder than either of these two women ever have because she has to.
&catfoodjunkie, I resonate with your response. And yes, I have known MANY a woman who has achieved so much more in spite of their incredibly difficult and hard circumstance. And no, @Crystal, I don’t hate GWynny. I just find her silly. That’s all. Hate is a strong and personal emotion, one which I don’t have in me towards those I know, let alone for those I don’t. It’s a wasted emotion. And I can’t muster it for G. Thanks.
I’ve always enjoyed Blythe Danner’s performances and thought she gave off a good vibe… well, bless her heart anyway.
(There’s always the real possibility that her husband had more to do with forming certain aspects of their daughter than she did.)
Well I guess we now know were Goopy gets it from .
I wonder about her son, GOOP’s sibling.
Truth hurts ladies?
I saw Paltrow on an episode of ‘Who do you think you are?’ and I was struck by how dull, vapid and lacking in charisma she was. Also, she sounded like a total asshole when, upon being told she had a rabbi as an ancestor, she replied, ‘I’m not surprised…I’ve always been a spiritual person’.
How embarrassing!
Also, I’m a real fan of that show and I’m always touched by how people are moved to tears upon discovering an ancestor they never met, has passed away in tragic circumstances.
Paltrow’s lack of emotion upon being told a (poor) great great aunt had passed away was very telling.
She strikes me as being an extremely annoying, vain, shallow woman.
It was her fathers mother who saw through goop and loathed her. Probably recognised she was has Narcsistic Personality Disorder.
So says the ‘mother’ who raised the Goopster. Shesh.
“Accomplished” my fanny. Takes lots of disposable cash to be that kind of accomplished.
Mothers are frequently delusional about their children.
Wow! I’m a little bit surprised at the prevailing theme in the comments. I expected some snark, it is le Goop after all, but I thought there would be more positive comments.
I’m certain that my mother would say something similar in this situation. My mom is definitely not a narcissist, she’s one of the most selfless people I know, she just loves me. A lot. And she’s genuinely proud of me. It doesn’t make me feel like a special snowflake or anything, but there is something comforting in knowing that you’re momma thinks you’re special and that she has your back. Especially when life’s a bit crappy.
I am a bit envious of her genetics and inheritance, though I can’t dislike someone I don’t know–in order to get on the bitch-wagon.