Gwyneth Paltrow & Winona Ryder’s falling out was even worse than people imagined

More excerpts and scandals from Amy Odell’s latest book, Gwyneth: A Biography. It definitely feels like the most gossip-worthy sections are from the 1990s, Gwyneth’s heyday and the decade which saw her rise to power. After Gwyneth and Brad Pitt broke off their engagement, Gwyneth quickly began dating Ben Affleck. It was such a power move – Ben’s star was also on the rise, and there was a built-in compatibility within the friend group. Ben’s bestie was (and is) Matt Damon, who dated Minnie Driver and then Winona Ryder during that time. Winona and Gwyneth were friends as well, until they weren’t. Gwyneth and Winona had some kind of falling out at some point in the late 1990s, and the fallout rumors were mostly about the Shakespeare in Love script (which Odell fact-checked and wrote that the role was always Gwyneth’s). But Odell did get to the bottom of Gwyn and Winona’s fallout and it’s awful. Gwyneth is awful.

In Gwyneth: The Biography – published July 29 – journalist Amy Odell reveals Gwyneth Paltrow was once close friends with Winona Ryder but grew to despise her after suspecting her of fabricating stories for attention. At the time, Paltrow was dating Ben Affleck and Ryder was dating his best friend, Matt Damon – making the two couples a Hollywood power foursome until the actress’s friendship with the pair soured.

In the late 90s, Paltrow’s star was on the rise although she had not yet starred in the role that would earn her the Oscar for Best Actress – Shakespeare in Love. Yet Odell writes that she had a habit of burning through friends on her way to the top, and that included Ryder. After breaking up with Brad Pitt in 1997, Paltrow moved into Ryder’s house, apparently for consolation from her friend, but their friendship would soon crumble.

According to the book, following an argument between Ryder and then-boyfriend Damon, Ryder left their New York apartment to say she had been robbed. Then Ryder left the home a second time, came back and claimed she had been robbed again. While Damon was sympathetic, Paltrow was convinced it was a ploy for attention and from there, the friendship deteriorated.

‘Damon consoled her but Gwyneth and Affleck believed Ryder fabricated the robberies as a ploy for attention (there’s no proof of this),’ the book states. ‘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. Her friendship with Ryder would only deteriorate further, and Gwyneth gave her the nickname “Vagina Ryder”.’

Ryder and Damon began dating after the actor had split with Driver, whom he met on the set of the movie Good Will Hunting. Driver would later claim that she only realized Damon had dumped her when he went on the Oprah Winfrey Show and said he was single. But Paltrow told friends that this was ‘untrue’.

‘Gwyneth understandably wanted to take her boyfriend’s friend’s side but she also seemed to sour on Driver,’ Odell writes. She considered Driver an ‘air-kiss friend’ and disliked her alleged ‘fake’ aristocratic persona. Once while doing a photo shoot at a rented house in Los Angeles, Paltrow swallowed her distaste for Driver and organized a last-minute birthday party for her.

‘When Driver wasn’t looking, Gwyneth rolled her eyes to friends and mimed vomiting by putting her finger in her mouth,’ the book states.

[From The Daily Mail]

Gwyneth is such a douche, my god. This is how she used her social currency and cultural power: to be a nasty Mean Girl to her girlfriends and their boyfriends. Now I want to know more about Winona’s robbery claims too – what the hell happened when Gwyneth moved into Winona’s house? And Gwyneth’s hatred for Minnie Driver is so f–king random, omg. Gwyneth hated Minnie because Minnie… had an authentic British accent. Minnie didn’t pretend to be an aristocrat back then either! She wasn’t the one starring in Jane Austen adaptations and costume dramas. That was Gwyneth!

Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Ron Wolfson/Avalon and Look Press Agency/Look Press/Avalon.