Back in the 1990s and early ‘00s, Gwyneth Paltrow was a menace. She had men coming and going. I actually forgot that Gwyneth dated Donovan Leitch Jr! This was back in 1993-ish. They dated for a year or two, then Gwyneth moved on to Brad Pitt, and then Ben Affleck, and on and on. Gwyneth was probably in her very early 20s when she dated Donovan. Well, hilariously, Gwyneth and Donovan’s relationship comes up in Ione Skye’s memoir, Say Everything. Ione is Donovan’s sister (I thought they were half-siblings, but no, they have the same mother and father) and she used to hang out with her bro when he was dating Gwyneth.
Actress Ione Skye’s memoir Say Everything, out now, continues to reveal fun tidbits from her storied life — including the time she went to Mexico on vacation with Gwyneth Paltrow, who was dating Skye’s brother, Donovan Leitch, at the time. In the book, Skye, 54, writes that the decision for her and her then-husband Adam Horovitz to join her brother and Gwyneth, now 52, on vacation happened after an earthquake rattled L.A.
“Vacationing with Dono and his intimidating new girlfriend (yes, that Gwyneth) did not exactly sound relaxing, but anything was more relaxing than living in fear of the next earthquake,” Skye writes in Say Everything, adding that Paltrow was new to acting at the time and had only starred in one or two films, most recently Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle.
She also notes that Paltrow spent the week reading scripts, and while they had fun together, she was surprised at how snappy Paltrow was toward her brother, who spent most of the vacation sick in bed. Skye writes, “At breakfast, Dono had distractedly tipped his water glass (he was one of the world’s most distracted people). A few drops had splashed Gwyneth, and she’d snapped, ‘Idiot.’ With a laugh, but still.”
Skye says the interaction didn’t sit well with her.
“Is Gwyneth always mean to you like that?” Skye recalls asking him. “Dono laughed … My brother was smitten. He was 27 and looking toward the future, to marriage and kids. Gwyneth was only 21 and wasn’t ready for anything too serious. Well, at least not yet. Six months later, she’d get a part in Seven and fly to Reno to meet Brad Pitt — and we all know how that turned out.”
Yeah, Gwyneth was a menace, as I said. Especially in this era, as she was gathering her blonde power. She treated a lot of guys like sh-t and they ate it up. Anyway, this story was a fun little piece of vintage gossip. I guess this means that Gwyneth is friendly with Adam Horovitz too? She was, like, hanging out with Beastie Boys before she even met Brad Pitt?
Photos courtesy of Cover Images.
- Featuring: Brad Pittt and girlfriend Gwyneth Paltrow Where: New York , NY , USA When: 14 Oct 1995 Credit: STARTRAKSPHOTO.COM
- New York, NY – September 12,1995 – Giorgio Armani Party. Gwyneth Paltrow and Winona Ryder. -PICTURED: Gwyneth Paltrow and Winona Ryder -PHOTO by: ALEX OLIVEIRA/startraksphoto.com -FO8022557a Featuring: Gwyneth Paltrow and Winona Ryder Where: Los Angeles, California, United States When: 21 May 1992 Credit: ALEX OLIVEIRA/startraksphoto.com
- January 8, 2016: Donovan Leitch at the AXS TV Winter TCA Cocktail Party at the Langham Huntington Hotel in Pasadena, California. Mandatory Credit: INFphoto.com Ref: infusny-244/David Edwards Featuring: Donovan Leitch Where: Pasadena, California, United States When: 08 Jan 2016 Credit: INFphoto.com
- July 25, 2006: Hugo Boss Celebrates the 2007 Spring/Summer Collections with a party at the Roof Garden in New York City this evening. Among those attending: Ione Skye. Credit: Roger Wong/INFGoff.com Ref: infusny-12 Featuring: Ione Skye Where: New York, New York, United States When: 25 Jul 2006 Credit: Roger Wong/INFGoff.com
Donovan Leitch was such a hottie back then!
Girl facts. I was no way in his orbit, but OMG. Hubba hubba. He was definitely on my list.
Adam is now married to Kathleen Hanna of Bikini Kill, I doubt he has anything to do with Goopy these days. Totally different vibe.
Currently have the audiobook now…I 💙 my local library❣️…btw… NONE of this surprises me
I’m pretty sure I was no peach at 21 in the 90s either. We hadn’t quite embraced kindness as a broader pop cultural value yet, and snark & sarcasm was at an all time high. I’m not holding this one against Gwyneth.
When did we embrace kindness as a culture? I may have missed that era. But Gwyneth is an easy target. Hollywood royalty floating through a life of ease and privilege while frequently saying/doing absurd things we love to mock.
But yeah I’m grateful AF we have so little documentation of our behavior in the 90s.
Even by Gen X standards I think she’s always seemed a little rude. I do chalk that up to her highly privileged existence though. I don’t think a poor Gen X-er could get away with being that rude.
I’m trying to imagine Apple acting like this and I think she would but GenZ would call her out and she’d have to pretend to act normal.
GP is a Mean Girl. It is known.
It is known!
I remember Brad and GP getting engaged and then splitsville! What happened?
She cheated in him with Vigo Mortensen
Paltrow and Pitt broke up 1997. Vigo was still married and didn’t divorce until 1998.He was in A perfect murder with her
Well, given what we know now about Pitt I’m not going to blame Madame Goop for dodging THAT bullet…
Gwyneth has always loved herself. I can definitely see that translating into meanness, esp at that age. Highly doubt she behaved that way to Brad when she met him on set. I remember him referring to her as “his angel” when they were together. Uh huh sure thing Brad🙄
I know beauty is subjective, but for the life of me I don’t see why everyone thinks she’s gorgeous. To me she is quite average looking.
She does have something of a resemblance to Grace Kelly, and goodness knows how Hollywood obsesses over pretty blue-eyed blonde white women aged 15 to 30 even without the vague visual connection to (at the time) recently tragically dead Hollywood royalty.
I was in college in VT. and a documentary director came to speak to my sociology class. The director had been nominated for an Oscar. The documentary was about someone who was disabled. The director spoke to our class that she and the star of the documentary, had to share the red carpet with Gwyneth Paltrow. She said that G.P. was awful and looked at them in disgust and didn’t want her picture taken near them. Goop is disgusting was basically the take.