Gwyneth Paltrow claims she made yoga popular.
The 46-year-old actress documented her fascination with the physical, mental, and spiritual exercise programme when she first launched her website and lifestyle empire Goop in 2008, and has now taken credit for the rise in yoga’s popularity over the last decade.
She said: "Forgive me if this comes out wrong, but I went to do a yoga class in LA recently and the 22-year-old girl behind the counter was like, ‘Have you ever done yoga before?’ And literally I turned to my friend, and I was like, ‘[She has] this job because I’ve done yoga before.’"
The ‘Iron Man’ actress claims she was met with criticism when she first spoke about yoga on the Goop website, and says people thought she was a "crackpot" for indulging in the practice.
Speaking to WSJ magazine, she added: "That was the beginning of people thinking I was a crackpot. Like, ‘What do you mean food can affect your health, you f***ing psycho?’ I remember when I started doing yoga and people were like, ‘What is yoga? She’s a witch. She’s a freak.’"
Meanwhile, Gwyneth’s lifestyle brand continued to turn heads earlier this month when it was announced they would be launching a $4,000 "dirty weekend sex kit", which includes a $82 massage oil and a 24-carat gold sex toy costing $3,500.
The website says the products – worth a total of almost $4,300 – are a must-have, adding: "These five clean, nontoxic essentials are virtually guaranteed to ignite and/or reenergise sexual vibes."