Gwyneth Paltrow is still ‘angry and embarrassed’ after one of her closest friends left a ‘catastrophic’ mess in a bed at her Hamptons mansion last summer.
News first broke in June 2024 that, after hosting a gathering at her $5.4million Amagansett home, the 53-year-old actress had been left appalled when a ‘socialite houseguest’ soiled a room with diarrhea — and then promptly fled.
The culprit was later revealed by the Daily Mail to be Paltrow’s longtime confidant Derek Blasberg — a writer and Hollywood social butterfly dubbed ‘one of showbiz’s best-connected men.’
Blasberg, 43, counts Jeff Bezos, the Kardashians and Demi Moore among his famous friends, and had been part of Paltrow’s inner circle since 2016.
The pair were frequently spotted together at A-list events, with Blasberg attending both the Goop founder’s 50th birthday party and her 2018 wedding to second-husband Brad Falchuk.
But a source now tells the Daily Mail that the once-tight friendship lies in tatters — not just because of the scatological scandal itself, but because of what followed.
Derek Blasberg, 43, counts Jeff Bezos , the Kardashians and Demi Moore among his famous friends, and had been part of Gwyneth Paltrow’s inner circle since 2016
But sources now tell the Daily Mail that the once-tight friendship lies in tatters
‘The friendship is barely there and will not be what it once was because, for the lack of a better word, the fallout took its toll,’ an insider said.
‘Anger and embarrassment turned into disappointment when no apologies were given.’
On top of Blasberg’s apparent lack of redress, there was also a fear from both parties of what might be said if they were seen together again, our insider added.
‘This is Hollywood. It would be like high school. The fear is that it’s all that will be mentioned if they’re seen together. It will live with them forever. At least now they can sort of move on from it all.’
The insider added, however, that friends feel the pair should have come together to tackle the PR crisis.
‘They should have appeared online together or done something on SNL or a late night show to joke about it,’ the insider said. ‘But that never happened and now too much time has passed for them to be the friends they once were.’
The damage is done, the insider added, the incident will always ‘haunt’ them.
The Daily Mail has contacted representatives for both Paltrow and Blasberg for comment, and has yet to hear back.
But for her part, Paltrow has remained fairly tight-lipped on the subject — which is hardly surprising given her rather obsessively kept ‘clean’ Goop image.
During an interview with Vanity Fair in March, the actress was pressed about the incident — and failed to hide her discomfort.
‘The friendship is barely there and will not be what it once was because, for the lack of a better word, the fallout took its toll,’ an insider said
‘Anger and embarrassment turned into disappointment when no apologies were given,’ the insider added (pictured with Dakota Johnson)
Journalist Michelle Ruiz wrote that when she broached the story, Gwyneth struggled to reply: ‘I understand… and I also, like, am just not going to…’
Ruiz added that Paltrow handled the topic with ‘an existential cringe’.
When the rather bizarre scandal first gained traction last summer, the rumor was that Paltrow had been left to deal with a guest’s ‘Ozempic-induced diarrhea’ at her home.
Then came the counter-briefing.
‘It’s not Ozempic, that’s just what he told everyone,’ an insider soon blasted, revealing how the humiliating story had quickly became the talk of the Hamptons.
‘Gwyneth told Oprah, Jerry and Jessica Seinfeld, and Larry David,’ the insider continued.
From there, the rumor spread like wildfire, with another source calling it ‘the Hamptons set’s favorite piece of gossip to text to each other.’
At the time, and insider told Daily Mail that Paltrow had been left ‘horrified’ but hopeful she and Blasberg could eventually laugh about the debacle.
‘Gwyneth would like to eventually laugh about this with Derek, but currently there is still much embarrassment,’ the insider said.
‘They both know that if they are ever seen together or if he ever returns to her house, it will be the only thing people will be talking about.’
A year later, there’s no laughter in Amagansett.
According to the Daily Mail’s sources, Blasberg’s failure to apologize has created an unfixable rift in a friendship that had once run deep.
After meeting in 2016, Paltrow admitted she wasn’t sure what to make of Blasberg, wondering if he was simply a ‘professional best friend of celebrities’.
But, she later said, she soon ‘fell completely in love with him’ and they became inseparable — flying private together, sharing dinners with famous friends and collaborating on projects.
In his 2011 book ‘Very Classy: Even More Exceptional Advice for the Extremely Modern Lady’, Blasberg gushed that Paltrow was ‘probably our generation’s most classy woman alive,’ ranking her among the likes of Nicole Kidman and Emma Watson for her taste and poise.
Since the Hamptons incident, Blasberg has quietly rebuilt his career, recently landing a new position as Vanity Fair’s special correspondent.
He lives in New York City with his partner Nick Brown, co-founder of venture capital firm Imaginary. They welcomed twins via surrogate in 2021.
