You probably remember that, when Gwyneth and Chris revealed they were calling it quits in 2014 after more than ten years together, the pair put out a statement that referred to their split as a “conscious uncoupling.” The choice of words caused quite a stir online and IRL.
“I was supposed to do a movie at one point, and it was like right after the conscious uncoupling thing with Chris, and there was a lot of harsh stuff in the press,” she said. “I think the distributor was like, this might be too hot to touch.”
“So that was great because I was getting a divorce and then I got fired off. So it was so awesome.”
Gwyneth went on to offer some understanding towards her detractors at the time (although, for the record, as someone who was a fully grown adult when she and Chris made the announcement, I didn’t really see what the big deal was).
“Say you had had a really nasty divorce, or your parents had had a really nasty divorce,” she explained. “And then you hear this idea that like, it doesn’t have to be done this way. I think the implicit learning is like, ‘Oh, fuck. Like, they’re saying I did something wrong.’”
“That makes sense to me, like, ‘Oh no, is the inference that I mess someone up.’ Like, that’s not a nice thing to contemplate. So I do understand why it was so personal for people.”
Fair enough! You can watch the entire episode here.