Gwyneth Paltrow Reveals She Was Fired From Movie Over Chris Martin ‘Conscious Uncoupling’ Backlash

Gwyneth Paltrow’s “conscious uncoupling” from Chris Martin wasn’t the only split she experienced at the time. The Goop founder joined Amy Poehler’s “Good Hang” podcast and recalled how the reaction to her viral 2014 divorce announcement with the Coldplay frontman led to her losing an acting role. “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,” Gwyneth explained. “I think the distributor was like, ‘This might be too hot to touch.'” The Oscar winner went on to poke fun at how the unfortunate turn of events led to a personal and professional double whammy. “So that was great because I was getting a divorce and then I got fired. So it was so awesome.” Gwyneth and Chris’ separation news made headlines not only for the shocking end of their marriage, but the then-unheard of phrasing used to describe their decision. Though “conscious uncoupling” may have been new to the masses, Amy pointed out that Gwyneth didn’t make it up and had merely popularized an existing term that’s entered common use since. Despite the polarizing reaction, Gwyneth confirmed that she understands why some found the language off-putting. “Say you had had a really nasty divorce, or your parents had had a really nasty divorce. And then you hear this idea that like, it doesn’t have to be done this way,” she continued. “I think the implicit learning is like, ‘Oh, f—. 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.” Gwyneth and Chris remain on good terms more than a decade after parting ways, and have openly shared about their co-parenting life with daughter Apple, 21, and son Moses, 19. The actress has since remarried, tying the knot with TV producer Brad Falchuk in 2018. For his part, Chris split from fiancée Dakota Johnson in 2025 after eight years together and has since been linked to Sophie Turner.