Gwyneth Paltrow says "nobody was happy about" her parents' interfaith marriage

Gwyneth Paltrow recently opened up about her parents' "scandalous" marriage and how it was to grow up in an interfaith family. While Paltrow is thankful for her blended religious upbringing, she said in a December 25, 2024, video with Noa Tishby that her parents' marriage wasn't initially accepted by their families.

The video was shared on Tishby's YouTube channel to celebrate the first night of Hanukkah, wherein the Goop founder recalled the uphill battle that her mother, Blythe Danner, and her late father, Bruce Paltrow, had to go through when they first wed. She said:

"My mother's Christian, my father's Jewish. It's interesting — I grew up in a time in the '70s where I think interfaith marriage was still kind of a big deal."

As per People on December 26, 2024, Danner and Paltrow wed in 1969 and were married for over 30 years before Bruce passed away in 2002, after years of battling with throat cancer. They had two kids together, Gwyneth Paltrow and her younger brother Jake. In the recent video, the Iron Man actress added that her grandparents had a hard time accepting the marriage back then. She said:

"It was really hard for both of my parents' parents that they were marrying each other, and it was a bit scandalous... Nobody was happy about it."

However, Paltrow admitted that her grandparents eventually grew to accept her parents' interfaith marriage and "kind of let go of all of that" in the end.

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Gwyneth Paltrow feels "so fortunate" for her interfaith upbringing

Despite the initial struggle her parents had to go through to have their interfaith marriage accepted by both families, Gwyneth Paltrow expressed that she felt lucky to grow up with parents who have different religious backgrounds. Further in her video with Noa Tishby, she said:

"I felt so fortunate because I got to grow up with these two very different worlds and very different faiths. I always felt an incredible pull to my Jewish family, I still do."

Paltrow listed all the things she loved about growing up in such a household, especially on the Jewish side of the family, including their traditions and the "warmth" and "unconditional love" the family shares. Of all the things she loves, she jokingly quipped:

"And the food, and the yelling, and the family."

She also shared with Tishby her favorite childhood memory about celebrating Hanukkah. Gwyneth Paltrow recalled going to her grandparents' house, which was on Long Island, and getting the Hanukkah gelt. It was one of her fondest memories, as she further added:

"I have such a strong memory of the gold round coins and my brother and I like tearing into them."

As for her favorite Hanukkah food, the actress and businesswoman admitted that she always makes latkes, and she further revealed that one of her family's traditions is lighting the menorah together before opening some presents.

Initial challenges aside, Gwyneth Paltrow said that she's "so close" to the Jewish side of her family. The Oscar-winning actress also mentioned that she learned something interesting about that side of the family; that they came from "17 generations of rabbis."

She gushed about the family being "kind of interwoven," how they consider each other "so important," and how they show up to support each other "again and again and again."

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