Gwyneth Paltrow’s vagina candles keep exploding. In January, shortly after her company Goop unveiled “This Smells Like My Vagina”, a UK woman reported that the new flammable product had ignited in her living room. Now, via TMZ, a Texas man is alleging another fiery eruption, and has filed a lawsuit against Goop for $5 million in damages.
According to court documents obtained by TMZ, Colby Watson claims to have purchased the candle in January and lit it for the first time in February. After burning for “an estimated three hours or less,” the vagina candle became consumed in flames, shooting off fiery debris like some kind of bomb or gun (a revulva?).
As Goop will no doubt point out, their product comes with a “limited warning” not to burn it for longer than two hours. But Watson, who has provided pictures of the charred remains, is calling that warning insufficient while claiming that the candle is “inherently dangerous.”
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In response, Goop has issued a statement describing the suit as “frivolous.” The company told Page Six, “We’re confident this claim is frivolous and an attempt to secure an outsized payout from a press-heavy product. We stand behind the brands we carry and the safety of the products we sell.”
This is not the first legal problem for Goop, whose dual commitments to pseudoscience and predatory capitalism have previously drawn the ire of regulators. In 2018, the company was fined $145,000 for selling jade eggs designed to be placed inside one’s vagina — a practice that may be actively harmful.
Despite these controversies, Goop remains a powerful force in the aspirational wellness industry. And to her credit, founder Paltrow has been open about her mental health struggles, even if the ways they manifest aren’t always relatable. Earlier this month, she said she’d gone “off the rails” during quarantine, which she defined as “drinking seven nights a week and making pasta and eating bread.”
