Podcaster Link Lauren weighed in on Gwyneth Paltrow’s recent comments about her political identity, after the actress described herself as a “centrist” and revealed that her husband, Glee co-creator Brad Falchuk, thinks she leans Republican.
In a clip shared on X (formerly Twitter) on June 10, 2026, Lauren said he was unsurprised by the revelation, arguing that Paltrow’s behavior as an entrepreneur made her political positioning obvious. Lauren said,
“I could have told you Gwyneth Paltrow is not a liberal ultra progressive because she’s really a capitalist. She’s blonde, skinny. She’s rich. She sells $75 vagina candles.”
The comments came after Paltrow discussed her views on the June 2, 2026 episode of her Goop podcast.
What Gwyneth Paltrow said on her podcast
Gwyneth Paltrow’s comments originated on the June 2, 2026 episode of the Goop podcast, during a conversation with Trae Stephens, co-founder of AI defense company Anduril, about mandatory civil service and political polarization in the United States, according to Entertainment Weekly on June 8, 2026.
Reflecting on disagreements with Brad Falchuk, whom she described as “so progressive” and someone who “wants to make sure everybody’s looked after,” Paltrow acknowledged a clear gap between their political instincts. She then said,
“I’m pretty centrist and my husband thinks I’m a Republican. But which I’m not a Republican. I don’t feel anything right now, to be totally honest with you. I feel like I’m completely an independent.”
She framed the exchange as part of a broader effort to move away from binary political thinking, saying she was trying to “weave together lots of different points of view” and “get out of that place of righteousness and anger and fear.”
“I am trying to, in my journey through being an American right now, trying to, I don’t know, I guess sort of weave together lots of different points of view, and also to get out of that place of righteousness and anger and fear.”
She offered an example of listening to someone at a Bluegrass festival in Nashville whose views differed sharply from Falchuk’s, describing the experience as “so beautiful.”
Entertainment Weekly noted that Gwyneth Paltrow has historically aligned with the Democratic Party. The actress hosted a Democratic National Committee fundraiser for Barack Obama at her Los Angeles home in 2014, telling him he was “so handsome that I can’t speak properly,” per TIME.
She also hosted a fundraising dinner for Pete Buttigieg in 2019. In 2023, she told The New York Times she was “open-minded about everybody” and cited interest in a podcast featuring Robert F. Kennedy Jr., now secretary of health and human services, when he was running as an Independent. She said,
“It was very interesting to hear his point of view.”
More on Link Lauren’s reaction
Link Lauren used Gwyneth Paltrow’s self-description as a jumping-off point for broader observations about the political center and what he sees as a disconnect between progressive politicians and mainstream Democratic voters.
He argued that Paltrow probably aligns more with conservatives in practice and described the left’s current policy positions as “wackadoodle” and “out of lockstep.”
“She probably identifies more with conservatives nowadays with Republicans. You look at a lot of the policies on the left, they’re very, very wackadoodle and they’re actually out of lockstep with what a majority of Democrats want”
He also used the segment to revisit his stated personal preference for what he described as “alpha males” over “liberal beta progressives,” drawing a contrast he had also made in a recent segment about Travis Kelce.
“I actually have a mutual friend with her husband and he is progressive, but he’s also a nice person but I just could never date a liberal beta progressive. It’s not for me. Okay. I need an alpha male. I need someone who has some common sense and is like, listen, we’re not dealing with all that craziness over there”
On Falchuk specifically, Lauren said he had a mutual friend with Gwyneth Paltrow’s husband and acknowledged he was “a nice person,” but reiterated that he personally could not date someone with progressive political views.
Lauren’s central argument about Paltrow, however, was economic rather than ideological: that selling a $75 candle marketed with the phrase “this smells like my vagina” is more indicative of her actual worldview than any party affiliation. He compared Paltrow’s Goop candle favorably to Meghan Markle’s reported candle venture, joking that
“Meghan Markle’s candles don’t even have wicks. So the bar is literally so low it’s in the seventh ring of hell.”
The Goop candle and the criticism Gwyneth Paltrow faces
The candle Link Lauren referenced is a real Goop product. Gwyneth Paltrow’s wellness company launched the candle in question in January 2020, priced at $75, which sold out almost immediately and generated significant media coverage.
The product reportedly became one of the most talked-about examples of Goop’s approach to wellness and luxury branding, and remains one of the most frequently cited references when Paltrow’s business instincts come up in cultural commentary.
Paltrow is also currently facing separate and more pointed criticism. The Cut reported on June 10, 2026, that Paltrow appeared in an advertisement for 51 Park, a luxury real estate development in Herzliya, Israel, a coastal city north of Tel Aviv, filmed in New York.
The ad has drawn widespread backlash online, with critics including pro-Palestinian activist Alana Hadid, who called it “unhinged capitalism” and “complicit,” and Huda Beauty founder Huda Kattan, who wrote
“This video is disgusting! Shame on her!”
Paltrow has not publicly commented on the ad or posted it to her own social media.
Following the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks, Gwyneth Paltrow, who is Jewish, posted multiple messages of support for Israeli hostages. The Cut noted it was unclear whether she had posted publicly about Palestinian civilian casualties in Gaza.
Edited by Devangee Halder
