Jessica Alba covers the new issue of Allure. After strongly disliking Alba for so many years, I’ve sort of coming back around to liking her slightly and admiring her business sense. Do I think The Honest Company is perfect? Nope. But she grew it out of nothing and now it’s worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Still, it’s good to remember that Alba began her company shortly after Gwyneth Paltrow began experimenting with the actress-as-lifestyle-guru model, which has now taken off to a crazy degree. Gwyneth recently spoke about she feels it’s “slightly misogynistic” to compare and contrast actresses’ lifestyle sites/companies, and Alba does the same thing in her Allure interview:
Her thoughts on the Goop comparisons: “What I think is unfair is to lump actresses together. People aren’t lumping Justin Timberlake and Ashton Kutcher together. They do other businesses. I think it’s expected that when you get success in one area, you’re supposed to evolve and try to do something else—especially in business, and especially if you’re a man.”
Whether she feels strongly about acting: “I did.”
Focusing less on acting: “I never wanted to play into a stereotype, where it’s like, ‘Oh, you’re just the girl who gets saved by the guy,’ and she doesn’t know how to make decisions, and she gets overwhelmed with all this stuff happening around her…Women are freaking resilient.”
She would still do nudity for a film if she wanted to: “If there’s a role where I feel comfortable doing that, sure. It’s just I never felt like being naked was going to make the movie any better. If anything, it was just going to exploit me for no reason.”
Her husband: “Gosh, it wouldn’t really be possible without him. He helped me put together my initial business plan. He was always my biggest cheerleader but never gave me unrealistic expectations and never criticized me so much where I felt defeated. Having someone who genuinely has your back, no matter what, there’s nothing like that…. It’s a real unconditional love…. The partner that you choose to go through life with you, that’s your chosen family.”
Well…first of all, we do lump actors together when they’re doing very similar things around the same time. If Justin Timberlake and Ashton Kutcher both launched tech companies within a few months of each other, we would be making comparisons. If Jennifer Aniston launched a tequila company, we would compare it to George Clooney’s Casamigos too. We compare and contrast when there is a very obvious trend, and right now, for actresses, that trend is lifestyle companies/websites. Alba’s Honest Company IS different than Reese Witherspoon’s Draper James, of course, but it still fulfills the notable trend of actresses pursuing other businesses in a similar genre. Basically, I feel fine with Gwyneth, Reese, Blake and Jessica getting the same kinds of questions because they’re honestly all doing variations on a theme.
Photos courtesy of Allure.
I like Jessica – there I said it.
I think she is beautiful, intelligent, family orientated, never bitch*s about other women (in public) and a woman who knows who she is and what she wants in life.
(Whispers) I like her too, I really liked what she said about women being financially independent and how it leads to freedom.
Also this “I always feel guilty when I’m working and not with Honor. But I do love to work, and I know that will have a positive influence on who she becomes as a person and a woman.”
I like her too. Yeah, she’s said some dumb things in the past, but…people grow up, and she seems to have.
The Honest Co. isn’t that Goop-like at all, IMO. I wouldn’t put it in the same category.
I agree. I think Honest is different because it isn’t really a lifestyle brand, per se. She is actually producing and selling a product that people need and use in everyday life.
How about comparing lifestyle web sites, Jessica? Several of them have been compared to Martha Stewart’s, who is not an actress. Is that wrong, Jessica? Is it wrong of us to compare rental car services? Dish detergents? You know, things that are the same type of product?
Yes, I thought that was silly. And Goop’s comment, as well. (Can you be “slightly misogynistic?”) I think women in Hollywood, actually women everywhere, have a lot of important issues to complain about and a lot to fight. These trivial, whining “no faaaiiirrr” type remarks just dilute and trivialize the legitimate issues.
Lol right? She’s so defensive bc she assumes it’s an insult bc ppl generally hate goop, but she doesn’t even seem to understand the logic between comparing similar products (soap, cars, websites, actors) and websites. lol sigh lots of people are like that these days it’s sad.
I am not a fan of her products because when I babysit (INAN is everyone’s favorite auntie), for some reason the stuff gives my hands a burning rash. Caveat — I have super sensitive skin…
Anywho, her business and hiring decisions have been great. Good for her for getting into business over acting. Who run the world? (Girls!)
How is it that she’s friends with the kardashians?!
She is so gorgeous!
She really is lovely.
I didn’t even recognize her in the pictures. Of course we’re going to compare them!
They aren’t even comparing your acting. They’re comparing lifestyle blogs and that perfectly fine. Got over it.
The Honest Company is not a lifestyle blog, though. As far as I’m aware, they produce and sell their own eco-friendly products for babies. GOOP is basically a catalogue expensive stuff Gwyneth Paltrow likes. As far as I can see, the only thing they have in common is both are lead by blonde actresses.
I agree. They are totally different.
I love her; hardworking, intelligent, common sense, self aware, dignified and self made. I used to watch dark angel years ago, it was my favourite show for a while.
It’s not fair to compare goops ridiculous money losing site for rich people to waste thousands on a deck of fancy cards with a real business that is successful because it sells products people need, want and can afford to buy. The only commonality between them is they’re both actresses.
They have similar websites. Lifestyle, based on their popularity as actresses. Just because you like one and not the other doesn’t make it unfair.
Just the fact that you like one and not the other means you compared them….
Jessica Alba is the most yawn worthy woman ever.
I can barely muster any interest in anything she does. Bland as tofu, as boring as an episode of Eggheads (for UK readers ha ha).
I really wonder where Goop and she would be without their fame. They get so offended when they get compared to a COMPETITOR, thats what they are. Celeb lifestyle sites, obviously they will be compared, even more so then regular sites because two famous names attract more attention to the articles.
How do you build a big company when even that upsets you? what do they do when they are faced with harsh business decisions?
are their sites similar? i didnt think they were, correct me if im wrong.
jessica has a brand and people buy it
doesnt goop just show diff stuff other people sell on her site? she doesnt actually sell a brand does she?
I don’t think their sites are similar either. It’s baffling to me that people think they’re doing the same thing.
I don’t really get what Gwyneth does with her site, if I’m honest. She seems to do advertising more than anything else, whereas Alba seems to sell her own products.
I don’t dislike Jessica Alba, I think she is beautiful and I think it’s great that she has accomplished all that she has with the Honest Company. I think she’s an opportunist, but I guess I can’t knock her for that because people do much worse things to succeed. A bit off topic, but I remember when she first began acting she was always trying to downplay her Latina heritage. Whenever she was asked about it in interviews, she quickly began saying that she wasn’t only Hispanic but had a mixed ethnic background. She was even referred to as “Jessica ‘Don’t call me Latina’ Alba” by some media outlets because she did this so often. Once her career began to tank, she was on the cover of magazines talking about how blessed she is to be a Latina and how she “couldn’t wait for her baby to be brown,” and all this other stuff that was just overkill and really contrived. I can’t help but roll my eyes at her after that.
All of these actresses need to stop getting offended when people mention that their lifestyle websites are similar. Pointing out that women who have essentially the same exact platform with different content doesn’t warrant use of the term “misogynist.” I also believe that women who have the advantage of having all resources and pretty much no limitations have no business talking about misogyny because they don’t experience it. There is no male boss preventing them from breaking the glass ceiling. No one is stopping them from doing anything and they are accomplishing things without any set backs every single day. People compare Bill Gates and Steve Jobs every day, and now Mark Zuckerberg gets compared to both of them also–none of these men are claiming it’s “misandry” that they’re being compared. I think the problem is that these women all want to believe that they’re original and inventive when they aren’t. Hate to admit it, but Paltrow is the only one who did something new and original when she announced Goop. All others are always going to be compared to her because she was the first.
“Pointing out that women who have essentially the same exact platform with different content doesn’t warrant use of the term “misogynist.” I think the problem is that these women all want to believe that they’re original and inventive when they aren’t ”
it seems to now be the go to defense of famous women. Like Taylor Swift writes about her ex boyfriends, gets asked about the songs she wrotes and says thats sexist…
all of those are women who can not deal with an ounce of criticism. they would have never made it in the real business world if they came from nothing and actually had to work their way up the corporate ladder. there are so many strong women who go through that steel bath and they would shrug something like that off but we mostly get to see those little crybabies that lead huge companies but get all fragile when asked a question.
but it isnt the same platform at all. they are only comparing them because they are both actresses.
I think billionaire tech guys get compared to each other because people are trying to learn from how they did business to become so rich, but I don’t think actors get compared that often in the business press (unless it’s one of those things where everyone is trying to figure out the difference between Chris Pine and Chris Evans). Maybe not making comparisons between actors is something weirdly unique to Hollywood.
In this instance, I don’t think the actresses are whining so much as trying to emphasize that what each of them is producing in terms of a business product is unique. Alba probably doesn’t want us confusing her eco-products with whatever it is that Gwyneth does (provide promotions for other products in her newsletter?) They also probably want to avoid a soundbite that makes it look as though they’re criticizing another actress’s company.
I agree their sites are different and not really comparable in that way, but as said in the post, I think it’s just that people are comparing the trend of actresses branching out into lifestyle businesses.
I’d be fine with them point that out, but calling it misogynistic doesn’t seem right.
I don’t think Alba used the word msyogynistic (maybe that was GOOP’s point? but I don’t know why her point is getting conflated with Alba’s. Even conflating two women’s viewpoints as having said the same thing seems problematic to me). Alba just said it was unfair to lump them together, which doesn’t seem wholly unreasonable to me since they’re both doing different businesses. The only similarity I see between the two is that they both act, or once did.
As mentioned, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates were often compared, but I’m pretty sure Jobs would go ballistic if anyone dared to talk about a similarity between a MAC product and a Windows product. So maybe Alba’s mood in this interview doesn’t strike me as overly arrogant or angry here. Someone asked her opinion, she gave it, but overall she sounds…well, not deeply unpleasant or anything.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen Ashton Kutcher or Justin Timberlake compared to each other. It’s never occurred to me to think of them in the same breath, even though they both have side businesses. I don’t think she’s wrong in pointing that out.
Brad Pitt and Leo DiCaprio both produce, but I’ve never seen comparisons made between those two either and how much money they make from production. It seems to be a mystery although logic tells me that’s why they’re both so rich. Acting isn’t the only reason those two make big money.
Alba has an environmentally conscious company (or that’s supposed to be the theme) but I don’t hear her actually doling out lifestyle advice about steam cleaning parts of the body or how to have foie gras while thinking of your father so in that sense I can see why the comparisons with GOOP would baffle her. Whatever they’re both trying to do, other than make money, strikes me as really different. I’ll admit that I find what Alba is trying to do with her business much clearer than what Gwyneth does.
So I think Alba does have a point.
if this company of hers keeps Alba from trying to act again, I wish her tons of success with it.
I don’t consider her an actress but dayum, she is gorgeous.
I thought Jessica started her business before Goop. I don’t know know what the others are doing but Goop and The Honest Company are nothing alike. Goop is a lifestyle website that promotes products from other companies. The Honest Company actually sells there own merchandise. I don’t know what their website is like but it’s secondary to their products. A comparison to Jessica Simpson would be a better comparison because they both sell product lines. Also claiming that Alba is only successful due to her celebrity is ridiculous. She was a B probably closer to C list actor when she started the company. I can’t remember the last time she promoted a movie and she isn’t in any of the ads or commercials. It may have helped in the beginning but Jessica should be given credit for the success instead of being dismissive. Much bigger celebrities don’t have businesses worth hundreds of millions.
I like her. I remember an early interview where she talked about her family and mentioned that obesity ran in her family, and that she had to work really hard to fight that. Maybe in retelling it, it sounds mean, but she didnt come off that way at all. She just acknowledged that food is important in her family’s life and that is tough for an actress who needs to stay thin.
Wrong spot where I put my comment.
Correct me if I’m wrong but their businesses are nothing alike eachother as far as I heard. Honest is a brand of products , goop is a website that recommends other brands . Paltrow is essentially a lifestyle blogger whereas alba is a the founder of organic brand of products. alba is right in this sense, comparisons are somewhat lazy.
I think Alba has a specific game plan with her company whereas Gwyneth throws anything at the wall to see if it will stick. That’s probably why Martha Stewart doesn’t like the comparisons either. Her company plan has a specific structure, whereas Gwyneth seems to experiment a lot, and some of her advertising succeeds while others don’t (including her words).
For the longest time I thought Jessica Alba was overrated in every sense. But I gotta say, I use some of the Honest products and I have never had an issue. In fact I love some of them. And I loved her book. And that second picture of her is divine! She looks amazing. I’m trying to figure out how to get my hair like that. So old school.
I think most of these women should thank Simpson because most of them had no clue until they realized Simpson was making the money she was..lol..Simpson is celebrating her ten years this year..most were ignoring Stewart..there I said it..Simpson is the prototype that they follow ..most were friends with her at one point..and most would hate to be compared or admit it.
SImpson was only copying J Lo in the first place, who was copying Puff Daddy, etc.
and Jlo pretty much is a non entity. As is Diddy. Jessica is the first celebrity billion dollar brand as in sold one billion and just went on the public market with Sequential. Alba has sold 150 million to two million last year and is a projected billion trying to go on the public market.
Gwyneth’s company seems more like an advertising company for her friends and herself than an actual seller of products, which is what Alba does.