TwitterThe pen is mightier than the sword, sure, but that doesn't mean writers should be trashing other writers—especially not best-selling cookbook author Gwyneth Paltrow!
Ah, but yes, Sunday in the Hamptons, hundreds of writers—some obviously more well-known than others—flocked to Main Street for East Hampton Library's 9th Annual Authors Night. The scribes took stacks of their books to their alphabetically assigned seats, but some of the writers sharing a table with Gwynnie seemed to be overcome with some bitterness about sharing the spotlight with a major celebrity.
Short story writer Christina Oxenberg had a seat right next to the It's All Good author, and she didn't like it one bit when a line of G.P. fans began to form even before the Goop goddess had arrived. So, per Christina's blog, she "upped the ante" by pretending to be Gwyneth, telling doubters, "It's just that I've put on a little weight and gone brunette for a role."
When "the divinity in question" arrived with Chris Martin, Apple, Moses and "a couple of massive bodyguards," her scorned seatmate clearly had some strong feelings about trying to sign autographs in Gwynnie's shadow. "The worshippers blocked my view of the whole world," Christina griped, "abusing my tiny territory upon which to abandon their trash or lean their sorry asses."
The feisty short story writer stepped away to mingle with other authors and came back carrying what she described as a plate of "miniature sloppy hamburgers, stinky steak sandwiches, and the like." But wait—the horror continued! Christina claimed Gwynnie's bodyguards "growled, body blocking me," and she was "[forced] to crawl under the table."
"And there I sat with my meat products, wafting the excellent smells toward my sleek vegan neighbor," Christina griped. Gwyneth does eliminate meat, dairy, eggs and the like when she's committing to a clean phase of dieting, but has Ms. Oxenberg not read My Father's Daughter? G.P. shares her delicious family recipes for fried chicken, chicken and dumplings and turkey meatballs, just to name a few.
Somehow, Christina still managed to have a "memorably glorious night" with publishing heiress Anne Hearst and her husband Jay McInerney. Mr. McInerney, who describes himself in his Twitter bio as, "Novelist, Short Story Writer, Expensive Wino and Gastronaut," posted a link to Christina's blog about the evening, adding, "Author's night at East Hampton Library hijacked by movie stars with ghost-written cookbooks."
Gwyneth's rep has not yet responded to E! News' request for comment, but we do know that homeboy's about a year late with the ghostwriting witch hunt. In March 2012, the New York Times published a controversial story claiming Gwyneth got some help from another writer on My Father's Daughter. Not usually one to gossip, but the A-lister set the record straight in a chat with Rachael Ray, explaining, "I feel like it's important for the people who have responded so positively and interacted with me about my book, that they know that this is my book and I wrote my book and it's all mine."
And that's that. Haters gon' hate, that's for sure, but Gwyneth Paltrow will always be the shining star.
—Additional reporting by Lindsey Good