Gwyneth Paltrow confirms rumour about Bill Clinton snoring through White House screening of ‘Emma’

Gwyneth Paltrow has confirmed a longheld rumour about former US president Bill Clinton’s reaction to her film, Emma.

Paltrow played the title role in the 1996 Jane Austen film adaptation directed by Douglas McGrath, and won critical acclaim for her performance.

In her appearance on the long-running YouTube series, Hot Ones, the 51-year-old actor and businesswoman confirmed how Clinton reacted to the movie during a screening at the White House.

The show, presented by Sean Evans, sees celebrities take on progressively spicier chicken wings while answering interview questions.

As Evans asked Paltrow if it was true that the former president fell asleep during a screening of the movie, Paltrow replied: “True – he was snoring right in front of me.”

She joked, “I was like, ‘Wow, I guess this is going to be a real hit movie.’ But it was! So f*** you, Bill Clinton!”

The Independent has contacted Clinton’s representatives for comment.

When Emma was released in 1996, The Independent wrote at the time that Paltrow had proved “a triumph in the role, with an understated and whimsical performance” when the movie was released in 1996. It went on to become a box office success grossing nearly $40m worldwide despite being made on a budget of $8m.

She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role as Viola de Lesseps in the 1998 movie, Shakespeare in Love.

Following her acting career, the actor has since gone on to other ventures, most notably launching her lifestyle brand Goop in 2008.

Paltrow addressed rumours about the former president’s behaviour during her film screening (YouTube: First We Feast Hot Ones/ Getty Images)
Paltrow addressed rumours about the former president’s behaviour during her film screening (YouTube: First We Feast Hot Ones/ Getty Images)

In a recent interview, she expressed disappointment at claims that Kourtney Kardashian’s brand Poosh was a “ripoff” of her own.

“I was so upset when Poosh was launched and people were like: ‘This is a ripoff of Goop,’” she said. “I was like, this is so awful, and trying to pit us against one another, which is so crazy.”

She added: “The world is better and stronger when women are in cahoots with one another. I feel like the patriarchy does this thing to us where they make us feel scarcity and that there’s not enough for all of us to do our thing. And it’s so detrimental.”

Advertisement