Gwyneth Paltrow has a long-established reputation as a woman who has it all together. From her flawless beauty to her lean-and-mean diet, impeccable acting chops and limelight-avoiding marriage to Coldplay's Chris Martin, Paltrow has rarely been the type to make embarrassing public gaffes.
But when she attended the much-hyped show by the Throne in Paris over the weekend featuring her pal Jay-Z, a surprising tweet from backstage sent the Internet into overdrive with accusations that the actress had crossed a racial divide.
You see, because she's besties with Jay and Beyoncé, Paltrow has the kind of pull that allowed her to watch alongside B from the stage while Jay and Kanye West were performing hit single "N---as In Paris."
Singer/songwriter The-Dream apparently snapped and tweeted a picture of Gwyn grooving onstage, with a caption that read, "Ni**as in Paris for real @mrteriusnash (the dream) tyty, beehigh."
That comment, sent from Paltrow's account, set off a firestorm on Twitter, where fans and bloggers ripped the actress for seemingly using the n-word. The blog Bossip.com wondered if, "Gwyneth might be getting a little too comfortable around her black friends."
Paltrow hit Twitter on Sunday with a response that read, "Hold up, It's the title of the song!" That defense elicited responses ranging from, "People are such babies. It's a freaking song title," to one that read, "It's not the title of the song when you use it to refer to people you know in real life. Don't play dumb."
The-Dream, however, stepped in to defend his pal, explaining, "Fyi Sorry for the Confu I typed Ni**as in Paris for real from Gwens phone. My bad I was Fkd up please excuse it! We were lit!"
He then went on to post a series of peeved tweets in reaction to fans calling him out for his defense of Paltrow. "N---a doesn't have any power over me which is why this will be the last thing I say about it," he wrote. "A word means something when u react to it! ... Context is everything. Meaning it in the context as a Song which is how we Sold it to the world!!!!!! It is what it is ... And actually N---az was in Paris! LOL. Stop wasting God's time and do something with your life. Love not war."
Later, He once again took blame for posting the caption and promised his followers that, "Trust me. If I felt a mfkr was trying me on that tip that was that close to me I would've been arrested. Be nice." The arguments kept coming and finally this week, The-Dream summed up his feelings on the top by writing, "WE GIVE THE WORD TO MUCH POWER!"
What do you think of the Gwyneth/"Paris" flap? Tell us in the comments.