NEWSGwyneth Paltrow's Shocking Nickname for Winona Ryder Revealed in New Biography
A new biography claimed Gwyneth Paltrow once gave Winona Ryder a scathing nickname amid their rumored feud.
July 30 2025, Published 7:34 a.m. ET
Gwyneth Paltrow called Winona Ryder a what now?
The actress' scathing nickname for her former friend was revealed in Amy Odell's explosive biography, Gwyneth.
According to Odell, Paltrow began calling her former friend "V------ Ryder" after suspecting Ryder was fabricating stories for attention back in the '90s, amid their alleged feud.
Gwyneth Paltrow called Wynona Ryder 'V----- Ryder.'
The alleged fallout came shortly after Paltrow ended her relationship with Brad Pitt — whom she dated from 1994 to 1997 — and moved into Ryder's New York City apartment. During this tumultuous period, Ryder, now 53, was dating Matt Damon while Paltrow, 52, embarked on a romance with Damon's close friend Ben Affleck.
Odell claimed Ryder and Damon experienced a heated argument during which Ryder rushed to inform Damon she had been robbed. This happened twice, with the actor showing empathy for his girlfriend. However, Paltrow became convinced that the Stranger Things star was lying about the robberies to garner attention.
The tension between Gwyneth Paltrow and Winona Ryder began after the former's split from Brad Pitt.
"Damon consoled her, but Gwyneth and Affleck believed Ryder fabricated the robberies as a ploy for attention (there's no proof of this)," Odell alleged in the book.
As their friendship soured, Paltrow reportedly became frustrated that Damon didn't see what she did.
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Gwyneth Paltrow claimed Wynona Ryder fabricated a robbery.
"Gwyneth was annoyed that Damon couldn't see it. Though Damon was kind to her friends, Gwyneth didn't seem to like him after that," Odell writes. Their once-close bond only deteriorated further, leading Paltrow to dub the Heathers star “V------- Ryder."
Elsewhere in the biography, Odell claims that Paltrow snagged the lead role in 1998's Shakespeare in Love from Ryder after initially turning it down.
"After a story about Gwyneth allegedly stealing the script from Winona's coffee table reached the media, Gwyneth told friends that Ryder had started the rumor, and insisted she'd received the script through her agent," the author states.
Neither actress has publicly addressed the alleged feud from the '90s.
While neither Ryder nor Paltrow have publicly addressed their alleged feud, Paltrow alluded to a "frenemy" who sought to undermine her in a 2009 Goop blog post. "Back in the day, I had a 'frenemy' who, as it turned out, was pretty h-----bent on taking me down," Paltrow wrote. "I was deeply upset, I was angry, I was all of those things you feel when you find out that someone you thought you liked was venomous and dangerous."
She added, "I restrained myself from fighting back. But one day I heard that something unfortunate and humiliating had happened to this person. And my reaction was deep relief and happiness."
Odell's biography also touches on Paltrow's purported fallout with Madonna and her supposed rivalry with Carolyn Bessette.
