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Graydon Carter Breaks Silence on Gwyneth Paltrow “Epic Takedown” Story in Vanity Fair

Gwyneth Paltrow, Graydon Carter

Graydon on Gwyneth, at last! Vanity Fair's longtime Editor-in-Chief Graydon Carter addresses his magazine's feverishly talked-about story about Gwyneth Paltrow — and why it still hasn't seen the light of day — in the Editor's Letter for the March issue. Last year, vehement rumors and reports circulated for months that the esteemed magazine was planning an "expose" of the Oscar-winning actress and GOOP-guru, 41, including her alleged infidelity, nasty friend breakups and more. (The New York Times even weighed in, reporting that the Iron Man 3 star had emailed her famous friends pleading them not to speak to the magazine.)

Related: PHOTOS: Gwyneth's most obnoxious quotes

Carter explains that he had assigned writer Vanessa Grigoriadis to pen the piece, who submitted the finished product at the end of the summer. "It was just what had been assigned–a reasoned, reported essay on the hate/love-fest that encircles Gwyneth Paltrow. I thought it perfectly explained the whole phenomenon," praises Carter of Grigoriadis' take on the much-loved, much-hated star. "But it was such a far cry from the almost mythical story that people were by now expecting—the 'epic takedown,' filled with 'bombshell' revelations–that it was bound to be a disappointment. What to do? I decided to sit on it for a time."

Related: PHOTOS: Gwyneth's friends in Hollywood

Paltrow then called him in October, Carter writes. "We talked for about 20 minutes about the story and her reaction, or over-reaction, to it. At one point, she asked my advice as to what to do to get the 'haters' on her side. I suggested putting on 15 pounds. I joked that it works for me. She replied I had put on much more than that. Which I thought was fair and funny," he shares, adding that Paltrow's camp subsequently denied claims that Chris Martin's wife of ten years had coerced George Clooney from appearing on the mag's cover, and that she had tried to kill the mag's annual Oscar bash.

Related: PHOTOS: Her bikini body

Admitting it was difficult to keep the juicy story "under our hats" in the Internet age, Carter reasons: "The Gwyneth Paltrow saga had clearly just gotten away from us. My instinct was to continue to let it sit until people had forgotten about it, or at least until expectations had diminished. The fact is the Gwyneth Paltrow story, the one we ordered up, as delightfully written as it was, is not the one the anti-Gwynethites expect. "

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