The battle of visiting celebrities turned into a non-contest. Entertainment reporters had been pondering for days about a clash of schedule between Korean heartthrob Kim Soo Hyun, star of the phenomenally successful serial ‘My Love From The Star’, and a promotional visit by Hollywood star Gwyneth Paltrow, both planned for April 23 (Wednesday).
Kim was supposed to appear at the Mira Hotel for skin care brand Beyond and for beauty shop SaSa. But fans were disappointed when he cancelled his appearance, according to his handlers, to remain low profile in light of the Korean ferry tragedy.
Instead, it was the ‘consciously uncoupled’ recently separated wife of Coldplay singer Chris Martin who got to bathe in the glow of media attention. Paltrow, who flew in just for the day to promote HongKong Land’s rebranding of its main Central office towers – Prince’s, Alexandra, Chater and the Atrium – using the Landmark name, was toasted at a socialite lunch, a media conference, an invite-only book signing, and a swanky private dinner with four of Landmark’s Michelin star restaurant chefs creating the menu.
Paltrow, the star of the Iron Man movies, an Oscar Best Actress winner for Shakespeare In Love, and now a lifestyle icon thanks to her popular online blog Goop.com and her food books, has had her share of bad press lately. Not only did she separate from Martin less than a month ago, this week’s reports came out that the CEO of her website abruptly quit and that Goop.com is in debt totalling US$1.2 million.
“Those numbers are based on filings from a couple of years ago. You shouldn’t believe everything you read,” the actress replied during the press conference. “I’m in the process of moving the business from London to L.A. and we’re going to have a lot of announcements in the future.”
“I really enjoy my office job at Goop. I (started) it so I could have more of a 9 to 5 job. I love watching it grow. We’re at the precipice of a lot of changes.”
According to the actress, now that she is a mother she prefers a more domestic existence than being away on film shoots. Paltrow also said she works out an hour to an hour and a half, five days a week, to stay in shape. In terms of food, she likes Korean (“kimchi is the best thing in the world”) the most among Asian cuisine. She also eschews all processed foods (“I’ll eat French fries before I eat something out of a package”). Oh, as for her hosts, she thinks the Landmark’s shopping is “very impressive.”
In recent years, Paltrow has become quite a polarising figure. Although her food books, like the health conscious It’s All Good: Delicious Easy Recipes That Will Make You Look Good and Feel Great, are best-sellers, just as many people dislike the Californian’s perceived self-absorbed ways. On a recent Buzzfeed post titled ‘How Pretentious Are You?’, the accompanying picture is Paltrow’s face.
Her diva side was evident when each member of the gathered press had to be ‘approved’ beforehand and nobody was allowed to take their own photographs – only officially released images are allowed for use, such as the ones here. In light of this, Paltrow’s humility seems a bit of an act.
“At the end of the day, I’m a woman who gets a lot of stuff projected onto me,” she explains. “When some people speak about me, it’s a projection of their own character. So many things written are just lies. It doesn’t matter what anyone writes about me, I accept myself. When you get to the point where you’re good with yourself, it’s empowering.”
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