Why Madonna & Gwyneth Paltrow Reportedly Feuded After Years Of Friendship
All over a personal trainer.
Featureflash Photo Agency / DFree / Shutterstock / Twitter During the late 90s/early 2000s, Madonna and Gwyneth Paltrow were considered close friends during the height of each of their careers.
Paltrow gained notoriety for her role in the film "Shakespeare in Love," for which she later won an Oscar, while Madonna received critical acclaim for her album "Ray of Light", and her hit song "Frozen" in 1998.
The two women were often photographed together during the early 2000s but in recent years, Madonna and Paltrow have been seen together less and less, due in part to their friendship crumbling over an incident involving their shared personal trainer.
What happened between Madonna & Gwyneth Paltrow?
Madonna and Paltrow became friends after the two found themselves living in the United Kingdom at the same time.
The singer was married to director Guy Ritchie at the time, while Paltrow was with Coldplay lead vocalist Chris Martin. They reportedly bonded over their time in the U.K., their British husbands, and their shared love of music.
The two were also raising their young children at the same time, and it was reported that Paltrow had been there for Madonna as the singer was going through her divorce from Guy Ritchie.
However, their friendship quickly turned sour.
Madonna and Paltrow reportedly feuded over a personal trainer.
After Paltrow had given birth to her son Moses, she began taking classes with fitness trainer Tracy Anderson to prepare for her role in "Iron Man."
She soon recommended the trainer to Madonna.
“She literally texted Madonna on her way out from her first session and was like, ‘You have to do it,’” Anderson told The Times.
Eventually, both Paltrow and Madonna started taking classes with Anderson, with the singer referring to the trainer as her "savior."
Madonna went on to say that Anderson was “the only one who could pull my body back together” after a horseback riding accident, three hernias, and two C-sections.
The relationship between Anderson and Madonna, however, eventually turned sour, which led to Madonna firing the trainer — a move that greatly upset Paltrow.
According to the Daily Mail, "Madonna had grown tired of the baggage that Tracy always seemed to be carrying with her. Tracy had grown to be more of a distraction than anything else."
Anderson denied that she was fired, however, and simply said that she just wanted to spend more time with her then-11-year-old son, Sam.
Whatever the reasoning was, Paltrow reportedly wasn't happy that Madonna had fired their shared trainer, and in a 2010 interview with British Vogue, seemed to hint at their falling out.
“Oh yes, I can be mean,” Paltrow said, according to US Weekly. “I can cave in to gossip. I can ice people out and I definitely harbor revenge.”
“I’m having a situation right now with a friend where I’m feeling pretty angry,” she said. “But revenge is corrosive and it doesn’t make me feel good."
Despite not specifically mentioning if the friend she was referring to was Madonna, Paltrow did speak about Anderson no longer training the singer.
“Yeah, it’s good that [Tracy] doesn’t train Madonna anymore. It was too much,” she said. “She keeps people waiting — it takes up your whole day.”
Tracy Anderson has publicly criticized Madonna.
While speaking to The Times, Anderson shared her feelings toward both Paltrow and Madonna, having only kind words to say about the "Iron Man" actress, while not offering the same kindness to Madonna.
“I mean, I wouldn’t look to Madonna for psychological advice,” Anderson said, adding that their relationship ended because of Madonna's firm demands.
“Madonna can demand whatever she wants to demand, she’s Madonna, that’s just what it is,” she added.
“It wasn’t working for me because my demands are like, I have a kid," she said. "When I missed my son’s saxophone concert because of a training session with her, I was like, ‘I can’t do this anymore.’ That was it for me.”
Nia Tipton is a writer living in Brooklyn. She covers pop culture, social justice issues, and trending topics. Keep up with her on Instagram and Twitter.