Entertainment

Gwyneth Paltrow's 'The Goop Lab' Trailer Is Exactly As Wacky As You Think It Is

by Mary Kate McGrath
Gwyneth Paltrow in Netflix's 'The goop lab'
Adam Rose/Netflix

Following several difficult years of lawsuits and social media disputes , Gwyneth Paltrow is taking her wellness brand, goop, to Netflix in the new The goop Lab trailer. On Monday, the first trailer for the Netflix series revealed that all six episodes will be hosted by the lifestyle brand's CEO and founder, Paltrow, alongside Chief Content Officer Elise Loehne, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Every episode will feature interviews with researchers, doctors, and "alternative health practitioners," as well as individuals with experience on a topic.

The goop Lab, which shares a name with the brand's newly-opened stores in Los Angeles and New York, will feature concepts such as psychic mediums, energy healing, and cold therapy, according to the trailer. "What we try to do at goop is to explore ideas that may seem out there, or too scary," Loehne said in the clip. The first look at the show also calls several of the procedures or practices featured "dangerous" or "unregulated," with Paltrow asking at the end of the trailer, "Should I be scared?"

In a statement, Paltrow wrote that goop used an "open-minded approach" with a "different, visual lens" to create the show, according to THR. Given the brand's history with peddling health tips deemed by many to be anti-science, the trailer stirred instant controversy online, with viewers calling out the brand on social media.

On Twitter, The Goop Lab trailer received immediate pushback from viewers and members the medical community, a potential setback for a brand already under fire for misleading consumers. Jennifer Gunter, an OB/GYN tweeted about goop and its history of unfounded medical claims, writing, "Ideas like bras cause breast cancer? Or that supplements really don’t increase all cause mortality?" while another user added, "'Lab' feels like the wrong word for wherever they conduct anti-science."

The upcoming Netflix show is not the first time the Goop brand has come under scrutiny for "out there" medical claims. Back in September of 2018, goop settled a lawsuit in Orange County, California, over misleading claims about some of its products, including Yoni vaginal eggs, following an investigation from the County D.A. and the California Food, Drug and Medical Device Task Force. The nonprofit Truth in Advertising issued a warning to goop as well, and the Good Thinking Society, an organization which fights pseudoscience, also filed a complaint with the the National Trading Standards for misleading advertising claims, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

The goop Lab's *suggestive* promotional materials were also criticized on Twitter. One viewer tweeted out the poster, writing, "Is she ...welcoming us into a Vagina cave?" while another joked, "Most people don't even know where Gwyneth Paltrow is located in the vagina."

The goop Lab premieres on Netflix on Jan. 24, and given past controversy, the series is sure to illicit a lot of heated responses.