'The Goop Lab' Is Full of Pointless Stuff No One Is Supposed to Actually Do

Every episode of The Goop Lab begins with the same static disclaimer warning viewers that the Gwyneth Paltrow–led series is “designed to entertain and inform—not provide medical advice.” The self-styled wellness guru clarifies the show’s mission in the show’s opening credits, noting that her goals are to explore “topics that our readers are curious about” and to “go out in the field and make a ruckus.” Paltrow doesn’t officially endorse any of the products, services, or concepts featured, not unlike other products in the Goop extended universe.

In her Netflix docu-series that premiered on Friday, we watch various Goop employees, and occasionally Paltrow herself, engage in a variety of “wellness” practices—energy healing, psychedelic therapy, vampire facials, and the Wim Hof Method, which is when you jump in an ice-cold lake because a man named Wim Hof tells you to. The show’s stars are careful never to frame what they experienced as universal, nor do they try to prescribe said practices to the viewer. It’s just something that happened to work for them! Next episode.

Watching The Goop Lab carefully sidestep endorsing any of the services it spotlights, it’s reasonable to wonder if this is the latest example of Paltrow not actually knowing much about a lot of the things her brand platforms. During a 2019 appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, for example, Gwyneth seemed lost when the late-night host asked her about various products featured on Goop’s site, failing to elucidate why a glass water bottle would need an amethyst core, and even admitting she’d never tried camel’s milk herself.

Paltrow’s ignorance streak goes beyond just Goop: She notoriously forgot she was in Spider-Man: Homecoming and that she’d ever been in a movie with Samuel L. Jackson, her frequent Marvel Cinematic Universe co-star.

But while the idea that Paltrow has actually never heard of anything Goop promotes might have a certain, undeniable conspiratorial appeal to it, the truth is probably a lot more simple: Gwyneth probably just doesn’t want to wade into another six-figure lawsuit over boosting bogus wellness claims.

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