Gwyneth Paltrow Has Held This Grudge Against Bill Clinton for 28 Years

If you’ve ever wanted to see Our Lady of Linen and Juices, Gwyneth Paltrow, scream “die, bitch!” while massacring a fly; drop the judgiest possible “wow” while critiquing her interviewer’s face-washing technique; and resurrect a nearly three-decade personal grudge against a former president, we have some fantastic news for you.

Paltrow made an appearance on the latest episode of Hot Ones, released Thursday, facing down the Scoville scale and downing hot sauce while answering interview questions from host Sean Evans. And it’s safe (if admittedly cheesy, but please—allow us this one thing) to say that she got a touch spicy while talking about former president Bill Clinton.

“Fuck you, Bill Clinton!” she said. The GOOP founder and actor’s animosity towards 42 stems from a 1996 White House screening of Emma, which Paltrow starred in. Paltrow was 24 years old when she played the titular role in the screen adaptation of the Jane Austen novel, and Clinton’s response to the movie at that screening didn’t inspire confidence, to say the least.

Paltrow confirmed that Clinton “passed out asleep” during the movie.

“True. He was snoring right in front of me,” she said. “I was like, ‘Wow, I guess this is going to be a real hit movie.’ But it was. So fuck you, Bill Clinton!”

Emma went on to be nominated for two Academy Awards, for costume design and original score, taking home a statue for its music. It was also a box office success, grossing some $40 million. And that Rotten Tomatoes rating? As fresh as an heirloom tomato grown in Paltrow’s own Amagansett soil, baby.

Though Paltrow has apparently not forgiven and definitely has not forgotten the incident these 28 years later, ready and willing to air her beef with the famously vegan Clinton with little prompting, there’s photographic evidence of her being at least okay with Bill’s wife just a few years later: Hillary Clinton and Paltrow were photographed together looking friendly at a December 1998 afterparty for the premiere of Shakespeare in Love. That movie scored Paltrow a Best Actress Oscar as well as Best Picture, so do with that what you will.

New York Daily News Archive/Getty Images

Asked whether Paltrow and Bill have made amends since, a representative told Vanity Fair via email that “We don’t have anything additional to add.” 

A request for comment from Clinton’s office was not immediately returned.