The 50-year-old actress opened up about whether or not she stays on good terms with her exes, revealing in an Instagram Story that she is “pretty much” still friendly with all of her old flames. In response to a fan who probed her with the question via Instagram, Paltrow responded, candidly admitting to still being friends with her former lovers, a choice that she credits to her belief in “conscious uncoupling,” according to People. Conscious uncoupling—a term first coined by licensed marriage and family therapist Katherine Woodward Thomas in 2009—is “really about the art of consciously completing things that matter to us in a way that lets us move on,” Woodward Thomas previously explained, per InStyle. “It’s about resolving a lot of the very difficult feelings like anger or rage or the feeling of unfairness, desiring to get revenge or get that person back.” Paltrow later popularized the term while using the same phrase to describe her split from ex-husband Chris Martin back in 2014. The former couple would go on to finalize their divorce two years later, and Woodward Thomas’ book, Conscious Uncoupling: 5 Steps to Living Happily Even After, would end up as a New York Times bestseller. In her recent Instagram Story, the Goop founder explained that she tries to keep things amicable after a breakup, writing, “When you spend meaningful time with someone, it’s nice to have it morph into friendship.” “I don’t want to have bad blood with anyone, ever (if I can help it),” she added. Paltrow—who is currently married to Brad Falchuk—previously opened up about her feelings toward Martin, who is the father of her two children, Apple, 18, and Moses, 16. “I know my ex-husband was meant to be the father of my children, and I know my current husband is meant to be the person I grow very old with,” she told British Vogue in September. She also appears to have no hard feelings with ex-fiancé Brad Pitt, who told her in an interview earlier this year, “It’s lovely to have you as a friend now. And I do love you,” to which Paltrow responded, “I love you so much,” according to a transcript from the June interview on her Goop site. The Iron Man star has also been noticeably cordial with ex-boyfriend Ben Affleck, whom she dated on-and-off for three years in the late ’90s. Paltrow previously commented on Affleck’s reunion with Jennifer Lopez, calling the pair’s love story, “So romantic!!!” and adding that she’s “Very happy for them,” in a previous Instagram Story, per Yahoo. Who ever said exes can’t be friends?
