Gwyneth Paltrow has clarified the origins of her viral vagina candle after fans accused the actress of inventing a fake public relations story. The Oscar-winning actress and Goop founder, 53, told a podcast this week that the fragrance was named by accident after a colleague took a joke literally.
Appearing on the Friends Keep Secrets podcast on Tuesday, Paltrow told host Benny Blanco and co-hosts Lil Dicky and Kristin Batalucco that her unusual sense of humour led to the viral product. Blanco is a prominent American record producer and songwriter. Lil Dicky is a comedian and rapper known for his comedic songs and television series.
"I like things that smell kind of unusual," Paltrow said on the show. "I like woodsy, leathery. Our first perfume is called Church; it's incensy."
She explained that she was trying to find an earthy scent with perfumer Douglas Little. They were sorting through tomato leaves and seaweed when she made a remark she intended as a joke. Little is a fragrance designer known for his natural botanical perfumes and for founding the Heretic brand. Paltrow has previously won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the film Shakespeare in Love.
"So I have a very body sense of humor, and nobody really knows that side of me," she said. "And I said to him, 'Well, this one smells like my vagina.' As a joke."
Accidental product launch
Paltrow said that Little thought the comment was a brilliant idea for a commercial release.
"So he thought I was serious, and made a candle called 'This Smells Like My Vagina,' and my team bought the candle," she said.
The candle was officially released in 2020 in collaboration with Little's fragrance company Heretic. The product notes described the unique scent as featuring citrusy bergamot, geranium, Damask rose, cedar absolutes and ambrette seed.
Paltrow made sure to set the record straight on the podcast about the actual scent of the candle compared to its provocative name.
"I thought I was joking and, anyway, the rest is history," she said, adding: "It definitely did not smell like my vagina."
Product discontinuation
The candle retailed for $75 and sold out immediately when it hit the market in 2020. Despite the clear commercial success, the wellness company decided to discontinue the product after three years of sales.
Paltrow explained that the item's massive popularity and the resulting media attention began to overshadow the company's other work.
"It became such a big thing that we actually stopped selling it because it was distracting people from what we were doing," she said.
Her comments on the podcast follow a recent appearance at the 2025 Mindvalley Manifesting Summit, where she also discussed the origins of the candle. Mindvalley is an education company that runs events focused on personal growth, spirituality and wellness.
At the summit, Paltrow told the audience: "That product is so fascinating because we were messing around with different scents one day."
Fan scepticism and Reddit backlash
Following the summit, a video of her comments went viral on social media and prompted fans to question how involved the actress actually is with the daily operations of her own brand.
Some internet users pointed to the story of the accidental candle naming as evidence that Paltrow might not manage the day to day decisions at Goop. The company is a lifestyle and wellness brand that Paltrow founded in 2008 originally as a weekly email newsletter providing lifestyle advice.
"It is possible she has little to do with the day to day running of the business," one Reddit user wrote.
Another user questioned the narrative that a major product could be released and marketed without the founder's explicit instruction and approval.
"Out of touch millionaires really want us plebs to believe they say things jokingly in meetings and entire product launches happen by accident?" the user wrote.
A third user added their criticism to the thread: "Hate these fake PR stories."
Evolving narratives
Paltrow's account of how the candle reached the public has shifted slightly over time, which may have contributed to the recent online scepticism.
When she first told the story on the Jimmy Kimmel Live television talk show in 2020, she said she thought the joke would make a good statement. The late night talk show broadcasts on the ABC network in the United States.
"What a punk rock, feminist statement to have that on your table," she told Kimmel.
At the time, she said that she assumed Little had only made a single, unique candle with the name as a novelty item.
"All of a sudden, it was literally on the website," Paltrow said.
That same year, during a television appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres Show, Paltrow offered a different motivation for the product's name. She told the daytime talk show host that she created the candle specifically to take the shame out of a woman's private parts.
While the story drew applause and laughter from the studio audiences during both television appearances, the changing details have led fans to look closer at the timeline of events.
Goop controversies
Since launching Goop in 2008, Paltrow has built the brand into a multi million dollar enterprise. The company now employs a full time corporate team and has expanded to include a clothing line named G. Label by Goop.
However, the brand has frequently faced criticism and media scrutiny for promoting unusual health trends and expensive lifestyle products. Its online catalogue has included items such as a $1,000 gemstone heat therapy mat and a $55 sex oil.
The company has also faced legal trouble over some of its medical and health claims. In 2017, Goop began selling jade and rose quartz eggs on its website for $66.
The company claimed the precious stone eggs, which were intended to be inserted vaginally, provided several significant health benefits. According to the news network ABC News, the advertising promised that the eggs would balance hormones, prevent uterine prolapse and regulate menstrual periods.
The jade eggs were not scientifically capable of providing those benefits, which led to a consumer protection lawsuit against Paltrow and her company in 2018. The case was settled days later for $145,000.
Following the settlement, the jade eggs were removed from the Goop website. They were brought back online years later, but the product description was heavily revised to state they could be used as a tool for Kegel exercises to strengthen pelvic floor muscles.
