Oscar-winning actress and successful entrepreneur, Gwyneth Paltrow, has sparked curiosity among fans regarding her connection with Tom Holland following resurfaced remarks during an awards event.
During the 2025 Women in Entertainment gala hosted by The Hollywood Reporter, Robert Downey Jr. handed out an award to his former on-screen partner.
In true Downey Jr. fashion, his speech was laced with humor and good-natured teasing of his former Iron Man co-star, who has previously admitted to not being well-acquainted with the Marvel Universe and the role her character, Pepper Potts, plays in it.
The 60-year-old actor described Paltrow as ‘incredibly smart, yet perpetually puzzled by the fundamental principles of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and its characters’.
The Oppenheimer actor then revealed to the audience that the 53-year-old Goop founder had failed to remember fellow actor Tom Holland, a revelation some interpreted as a potential slight.
Addressing the audience, Downey Jr humorously recounted how Paltrow had inquired, ‘Who’s that?’ concerning the young actor. He jokingly responded: “That’s Spider-Man. He said his name was Peter. His character’s name is Peter.
“He’s Tom Holland. You’ve done four movies with him.’”
Paltrow and Holland have shared the screen in some of Marvel’s biggest hits, including Spider-Man: Homecoming, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame, contributing to a collective box office success exceeding $6 billion. Yet, Paltrow reportedly struggled to recall Holland and his iconic Spider-Man role.
This led one social media user to ponder: “Gwyneth Paltrow asking who Tom Holland is after four movies together… is this a memory lapse or subtle shade?”
Another commenter alluded to Paltrow’s infamous intimate candle, quipping: “That vagina scented candle gave her short term memory loss.”
Despite highlighting Paltrow’s apparent forgetfulness towards her co-stars, Downey Jr’s speech predominantly celebrated her illustrious career and achievements.
This includes her Academy Award-winning performance in Shakespeare in Love (1998), a work penned by playwright Tom Stoppard, who recently passed away.
However, for Downey Jr, Paltrow’s most notable accomplishment remains her dedication to establishing and expanding Goop into a $250 million enterprise.
He recounted how Paltrow was ‘building Goop between takes on the set of Iron Man’ and was unafraid to embrace a ‘polarizing public persona’.
Focusing on the term ‘polarizing’, he remarked this was ‘a term used by critics to inaccurately describe influential women who exemplify decades of undeniable relevance and reinvention’.
He framed Paltrow’s well-known controversies and divisive persona as integral to her distinctive and fascinating character.
Downey Jr stated: “In an age where we so crave leadership, example, integrity, resolve, and too often folks come up short, we have here a woman that is willing to go to trial, confronting her retired optometrist accuser regarding an alleged injury on a Deer Valley ski resort slope — and comport herself so honorably that a musical theater production is born to commemorate her moral strength, intestinal fortitude, not to mention her impeccably tasteful, civil suit chic-yet-practical courtroom attire.”
In conclusion, he called Paltrow to the stage to receive the 20th annual Sherry Lansing Leadership Award, exclaiming: “It’s time to recognize … Gwyneth fuggin’ Paltrow.”