Gwyneth Paltrow and Winona Ryder’s once-close friendship reportedly ended on a sour note, and new details from the not-so-lowkey biography Gwyneth, by Amy Odell, are shining a light on what may have caused the rift.
According to the book, the two actresses were friends during the 1990s, around the time Paltrow ended her relationship with Brad Pitt and moved into Ryder’s New York apartment.
At the time, Ryder was dating actor Matt Damon, while Paltrow had started seeing Damon’s best friend, Ben Affleck.
The tension allegedly began after Ryder told Damon she had been robbed, not once, but twice.
The book claims Damon was supportive, but Paltrow didn’t believe her friend’s story. According to Odell, “Gwyneth and Affleck believed Ryder fabricated the robberies as a ploy for attention,” a claim that is not supported by any evidence.
The claims go further, with the biography stating that Paltrow became frustrated with Damon for not recognizing what she thought was a manipulation tactic.
Odell writes, “Gwyneth was annoyed that Damon couldn’t see it. Though Damon was kind to her friends, Gwyneth didn’t seem to like him after that.”
This disagreement allegedly marked the beginning of the end for Paltrow and Ryder’s friendship.
Odell even claims that Paltrow gave Ryder a cruel nickname during their falling out, referring to her as “Vag*na Ryder.” The nickname supposedly reflected Paltrow’s growing resentment over what she viewed as attention-seeking behavior from her former friend.
Neither actress has publicly spoken about the alleged nickname or addressed the fallout directly.
However, in a 2009 blog post for Goop, Paltrow did hint at having a “frenemy” who seemed to be working against her.
“Back in the day, I had a ‘frenemy’ who, as it turned out, was pretty hell-bent on taking me down,” she wrote. “This person really did what they could to hurt me.”
