Backlash! Gwyneth Paltrow Blasted for Comparing Mean Internet Comments to... War?!
Oh, Gwyneth!
As one could have easily predicted, the actress's comparison of reading negative online comments about herself to being at war isn't sitting well with many, including Senator John McCain's wife, Cindy.
[Related: Gwyneth Paltrow Calls Online Attacks 'Dehumanizing']
Paltrow, who's in the process of "conscious uncoupling" with Chris Martin, made the analogy at Tuesday's Re/Code tech conference. Addressing the widespread (and well-documented) criticism she receives, the Goop founder, 41, told the crowd, "You come across [online comments] about yourself and about your friends, and it's a very dehumanizing thing. It's almost like how, in war, you go through this bloody, dehumanizing thing, and then something is defined out of it."
While it was part of a larger conversation about the mean-spiritedness of online commenters, which we understand, Paltrow was swiftly criticized for the tasteless comparison. Cindy McCain, whose senator husband spent over five years in captivity as a prisoner of war in Vietnam and was left with lifelong injuries, was one of those who spoke out.
Gweneth Paltrow is a joke. Her life is like taking bullets for a soldier. What a joke! My 2 sons serving in the military should talk to her.
— Cindy McCain (@cindymccain) May 29, 2014
Perhaps Gweneth Paltrow should go out on patrol with some soldiers. Kind of like a Red Carpet in her mind I guess!
— Cindy McCain (@cindymccain) May 29, 2014
Beyond McCain's opinion, Twitter blew up with similar reactions to Paltrow's remarks. Yahoo commenters didn't hold back either — among the 800-plus comments on our original story, the majority were negative, including this one from reader Fleur:
[Related: Why Do So Many People Hate Gwyneth Paltrow? Let Us Count the Ways]
"Right because people saying things about you online is just as dehumanizing as having to kill people and watch your friends die right next to you. THIS is why people do not like you, Gwyneth: you NEVER think before you speak. Making a statement like that just shows how out of touch you are with reality."
Fellow commenter J A was more succinct, writing, "Well, i hope she gets mental help. Her narcissism is toxic."
Paltrow did have some defenders, including Marmalade, who wrote, "I don't like the people that don't like her…because they have no common sense or sense of fairness. or understanding. Big thumbs down on you and all the trolls like you!!!"
Sometimes it seems Paltrow can't win; she faces criticism no matter what she does. Other times, you can't help but think she brings many of these things on herself.
