Gwyneth Paltrow sidesteps questions over divorce to promote lifestyle website
The actress and self-styled domestic goddess Gwyneth Paltrow used a visit to Hong Kong yesterday to dismiss reports her lifestyle website Goop.com was in financial dire straits and insisted the company was here to stay.
The Oscar winner sidestepped questions about her recent "conscious uncoupling" from her husband of 10 years, Coldplay singer Chris Martin. She wore a large diamond ring on her right hand but on her left hand there was no sign of her wedding band, which she has been seen wearing since the split was announced in March.
The CEO of Goop, Seb Bishop, quit earlier this week citing the website's move from London to Los Angeles. Reports have surfaced that the company is US$1.2 million in debt - partly due to interest-free loans taken from the firm by Bishop and Paltrow.
Speaking at the Landmark Mandarin Oriental in Central, Paltrow confirmed the website's move, but seemed confident about Goop's finances.
"We're on the [verge] of a lot of changes at the website right now and we have some really exciting announcements coming up."
Paltrow, who describes her lifestyle as "quiet and domestic", said she founded the website so she could have a nine-to-five job.
"I really love my office job. I started Goop, my website, because I had a lot of creativity and I wasn't doing as many films."
Paltrow, who was wearing a black jumpsuit paired with black four-inch heels, called Hong Kong the "shopping capital of the world" and said she "got into a lot of trouble yesterday walking around all the stores".
As part of the promotion, Paltrow designed two recipes - a beets and beans salad and an Asian mushroom soup - for a lunch attended by local celebrities including entrepreneur Dee Poon, model Victoria Tang and fashion designer William Tang Tat-chi.
Paltrow said she loved Asian food as it did not contain much dairy or gluten. "I love Korean food," she said. "Kimchi's like the best thing in the world."
