Gwyneth Paltrow clarifies wild origin of viral vagina candle after being accused of creating a 'fake PR story'

Gwyneth Paltrow revealed how her quirky sense of humor led to her sell-out 'This Smells Like My Vagina' candle.The Goop founder, 53, appeared on Benny Blanco's Friends Keep Secrets podcast on Tuesday and explained to co-hosts Lil Dicky and Kristin Batalucco that the spicy name was born out of a joke she made.'I like things that smell kind of unusual,' Paltrow began. 'I like woodsy, leathery. Our first perfume is called Church; it's incensy.'The Oscar-winning actress went on to share that she was working on finding an 'earthy' fragrance with the perfumer Douglas Little, sorting through tomato leaves and seaweed.Paltrow said that a sentence she meant to be simply humorous, turned into something Little thought was a 'brilliant' idea.'So I have a very body sense of humor, and nobody really knows that side of me,' she continued. 'And I said to him, "Well, this one smells like my vagina." As a joke.' Gwyneth Paltrow, 53, revealed that her viral Goop 'This Smells Like My Vagina' candle was named by accident after she made a joke The $75 candle sold out immediately when it hit the market in 2020, but the wellness company discontinued it after three years'So he thought I was serious, and made a candle called "This Smells Like My Vagina," and my team bought the candle.'In 2020, Goop released the candle with the company Heretic.It features citrusy bergamot, geranium, Damask rose, cedar absolutes and ambrette seed.'I thought I was joking and, anyway, the rest is history,' she added on the podcast, clarifying for the record: 'It definitely did not smell like my vagina.'The $75 candle sold out immediately when it hit the market but the wellness company discontinued the product after three years.'It became such a big thing that we actually stopped selling it because it was distracting people from what we were doing,' Paltrow said.Paltrow's elaboration comes after she attended the 2025 Mindvalley Manifesting Summit and spoke about how the candle came to be.Following the event, a viral video made fans question just how hands-on the actress actually is with her brand.Paltrow was asked about the candle and said: 'That product is so fascinating because we were messing around with different scents one day.'The Goop founder appeared on Benny Blanco's Friends Keep Secrets podcast on Tuesday and explained to co-hosts Lil Dicky and Kristin Batalucco how her tastes led to the spicy name The actress was working on finding an 'earthy' fragrance with the perfumer Douglas Little, when she jokingly told him, 'Well, this one smells like my vagina' In 2020, Paltrow said that she created the candle to take the shame out a woman's private parts; Pictured in 2020She said that even though she was joking, she thought it would be cool of someone to actually put that phrase on a candle.'What a punk-rock, feminist statement to have that on your table,' the businesswoman said when she first told the story to Jimmy Kimmel back in 2020.She went on to say that Little actually made the candle – which Paltrow assumed was the only of its kind.'All of a sudden, it was literally on the website,' Paltrow said.And while the story emitted applause and laughter from the audience both times she said it, fans became increasingly dubious.Some pointed to the story as proof that Paltrow isn't as enmeshed with the brand as she says she is.'It is possible she has little to do with the day to day running of the business,' one Redditor said.'Out of touch millionaires really want us plebs to believe they say things jokingly in meetings and entire product launches happen by accident?' another added.'Hate these fake PR stories,' another Redditor chimed in.In 2020, Paltrow said that she created the candle to take the shame out of a woman's private parts while appearing on Ellen. Over the years, Paltrow has backed a slew of bizarre and eyebrow-raising health trends; Pictured in 2021 Since she founded the Goop brand in 2008, she has turned it into a multi-million dollar empire, even expanding to have a full-time team and building a clothing line out of it, G. Label by Goop.Despite its success, Goop, which has sold products like a $1,000 gemstone heat therapy mat and $55 sex oil, has become embroiled in controversy on more than one occasion.In 2017, Paltrow began selling $66 jade and rose quartz eggs on Goop's website, which were meant to be inserted vaginally and were said to have a number of benefits to them.According to ABC News, the advertising that Goop peddled on these precious stone eggs promised to 'balance hormones,' 'prevent uterine prolapse,' and regulate your period.But it turns out that the jade eggs were not capable of doing all of the above, like balancing out your hormones – and it resulted in a lawsuit for Paltrow in 2018.Days later, it was settled for $145,000, and the jade eggs were promptly removed from the website – although they came back online years later, this time described as something you can use for Kegel exercises.