Gwyneth Paltrow finally comments on Meghan Markle’s reinvention as a lifestyle guru: ‘Everybody deserves an attempt’

Hollywood star and wellness guru Gwyneth Paltrow has thrown her support behind the Duchess of Sussex just weeks after the royal launched her long-awaited lifestyle brand and television series.

Paltrow was asked for her thoughts on Meghan’s new projects and said “everybody deserves an attempt at everything that they want to try”.

The 52-year-old is the head of her own lifestyle empire, Goop, which she launched in 2008. In 2018, the New York Times valued it at around $250 million.

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When the Duchess of Sussex finally revealed the details of her new brand As Ever, along with its accompanying series on Netflix titled With Love, Meghan there were immediate comparisons with Paltrow’s company.

But for some time before the official launch, Meghan had been plagued with accusations that she was trying to copy Paltrow and the empire she has created.

Years before marrying into the royal family Meghan ran the lifestyle website The Tig, which she shut in 2017. In January this year, the duchess revealed her brand As Ever after a name-change.

Overnight, the duchess shared a new promotional image for the brand showing her walking through her Montecito gardens, holding a bronze watering can and wearing her trademark white linen shirt and wide-brimmed hat.

Netflix recently confirmed season two of With Love, Meghan would premiere in the coming months despite the first series being heavily criticised.

The duchess will soon host a podcast titled Confessions of a Female Founder, which is expected to focus on women in business including “candid conversations with amazing women who have turned dreams into realities” Meghan said.

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Paltrow was asked about Meghan’s projects in an interview with Vanity Fair and the actress said she doesn’t see the duchess as a competitor.

“I was raised to see other women as friends, not foes,” Paltrow told the magazine.

“I think there’s always more than enough to go around. Everybody deserves an attempt at everything that they want to try.”

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She added that when “there’s noise about certain women in the culture, I do have, always, a strong instinct to stand up for them”.

Paltrow said Goop just had ”our best year” despite numerous staff being let go.

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“We’ve gotten bloated. We need to focus… Unfortunately, we had to do a reorg,” she said.

“We are not doing this because the business is faltering. Case in point, we’re still here.”

Paltrow and her husband Brad Falchuck live in Montecito, close to Prince Harry and Meghan but she says she does not know the duchess well.

“I’m surprised, given how close they live,” she said.

“I mean, I’ve met Meghan, who seems really lovely, but I don’t know her at all.

“Maybe I’ll try to get through their security detail and bring them a pie.”

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