Robert Downey Jr. Playfully Roasts Gwyneth Paltrow at THR Women in Entertainment Gala
It was a humorous and heartfelt reunion between Gwyneth Paltrow and Robert Downey Jr. on Wednesday at The Hollywood ReporterThe Women in Entertainment 2025 Gala Breakfast, presented by Lifetime, at the Beverly Hills Hotel.
Before Paltrow – who also graces the cover of THRIn the Women in Entertainment issue of – took the stage to accept the 20th annual Sherry Lansing Leadership Award, Downey Jr. had a few words of affection as well as a few playful digs at his former co-star and on-screen love interest in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Paltrow played Pepper Potts, alongside Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark, in several films.
Downey Jr. wasted no time before teasing her for being “incredibly intelligent, but still confused by the basics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and its inhabitants” – as she has often gone viral for forgetting key Marvel moments and even the superhero films she starred in.
“’Who is it?’” The sympathizer The actor said Paltrow once asked, to which he jokingly replied: “‘It’s Spider-Man. He said his name is Peter. His character’s name is Peter. He’s Tom Holland. You’ve done four movies with him.'”
Throughout his speech, Downey Jr. reflected on her long career and the impressive resume she has built. She made her Hollywood debut in 1998 with her Oscar-winning performance in Shakespeare in Love before starring in dozens of other projects, including his next film, Marty Supreme.
Downey Jr. later praised her work ethic, as Paltrow was “building Goop between takes on the set of Iron Man” and raising his children while pursuing his acting career. He also discussed how his split from ex Chris Martin “presented the planet with the possibility of “conscious uncoupling” – remember that? – which Hollywood has done a great job of not imitating.
He then addressed Paltrow’s most recent actions, saying she had been sidelined: “[a] second unannounced acting retirement for emerging talent Josh Safdie, makeup session with Timmy [Chalamet] — Marty Supreme! »
Later, the Oppenheimer The actor reflected on Paltrow’s “polarizing public persona,” saying that “polarizing” is “a word used by dingbats to falsely describe powerful women who demonstrate decades of irrefutable relevance and reinvention.”
“This is why we are here,” Downey Jr. continued. “At a time when we are so in need of leadership, of example, of integrity, of determination, and where, too often, people fail, here we have a woman willing to go to court, to confront her retired optometrist accuser over an alleged injury on a Deer Valley ski slope – and behave so honorably that a musical theater production was born to commemorate her moral fortitude, her strength intestinal, not to mention her impeccably elegant and tasteful courtroom attire for a civil trial, both chic and practical.”
In an ecstatic conclusion before Paltrow took the stage, Downey Jr. shouted, “It’s time to recognize…Gwyneth fuggin’ Paltrow.” »
Rachel Sennott hosted Wednesday’s breakfast show alongside other speakers including Dakota Johnson, Sarah Paulson, Goldie Hawn, Regina Hall, Chase Infiniti, Jimmy Kimmel and Molly McNearney. Jennifer Lopez received the Equity in Entertainment award, presented to her by Kerry Washington.
THR’s Women in Entertainment was presented by Lifetime and the gala was sponsored by Delta Air Lines, Medicube, Reyka Vodka and Seven Bucks Productions, and in partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Los Angeles, Entertainment Industry Foundation, Gersh, Chapman University and Loyola Marymount University.
Kirsten Chuba contributed to this story.
