Gwyneth Paltrow Reveals Why Brad Pitt Split Filled Her With Shame
The pair met while they were filming a cult classic.
Kevin.Mazur/WireImage
Gwyneth Paltrow is speaking out about her infamous split from Brad Pitt.
The 53-year-old Iron Man star met the 62-year-old Fight Club actor when she was cast in Se7en in 1994, before getting engaged two years later—but by 1997 they had ended things.
“I met him on set and like we had like kind of a love at first sight thing,” she said on the podcast Friends Keep Secrets, with Benny Blanco, Lil Dicky and Kristin Batalucco. “It was pretty awesome. It was really fun.”
Calling the experience “overwhelming,” she added, “I was just young, and we were working all over different parts of the world.”
When co-host Lil Dicky asked whether the relationship had felt more “like a fantasy than a reality,” Paltrow replied, “There was an aspect of it that was very heady. I was very young, and he was this beautiful movie star.”
The couple was together for three years.
New York Daily News Archive/NY Daily News via Getty Images
She admitted that when things fell apart she was “so bummed,” adding, “I think the press aspect and all that makes it feel larger than life in a way.”
Get the best of Obsessed delivered right to your inbox
By clicking “SUBSCRIBE” you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
“You have to carry this faux cultural importance piece, this extra burden and this extra shame that it didn’t work out,” she admitted.
It’s not the first time Paltrow has spoken about her pain in the aftermath of their split, telling the Call Me Daddy podcast in 2023 that she had been “totally heartbroken when we broke up.”
They split in 1997.
Lawrence Schwartzwald/Getty Images
“It was the right thing at that time, but it was really hard. There were a number of things that had happened,” she said at the time. “He was nine years older than me—he knew what he wanted, he was ready to do it, and I was kind of all over the place.”
“So it was really one of those difficult things, where I felt like, ‘Oh my God, not only am I not ready, I’m not living up to the standards again.’ It was a familiar refrain I felt about myself,” Paltrow added.
She later married Chris Martin of Coldplay fame in 2003, but they split 11 years later in 2014. Four years later, she married Brad Falchuk in 2018.
Obsessed with pop culture and entertainment? Follow us on Substack and YouTube for even more coverage.
Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here.
Register below to read this article for free or subscribe
to unlock unlimited access to The Daily Beast.
Monthly
$1
First month then $5.99/month
Annual
$35
First year then $59.99/year
Premium
$79
First year then $119.99/year
*Substack access provided by the next business day, using your subscription email. Choosing the Premium plan constitutes your permission to share your subscription email with Substack and your agreement to Substack’s Privacy Policy.
Already have an account? Sign In
Looks like you already have a subscription!
You're all set!
Thanks for subscribing.
Sign in or create an account
Login dialog
Loading comments…