In 2008, Gwyneth Paltrow launched her wellness and lifestyle brand, Goop. Her business even landed itself a documentary series on Netflix called The Goop Lab, which looks at the treatments offered, including bee venom therapy and vaginal steaming.
In 2020, Goop was rocked when Elise Loehnen, one of Paltrow’s business partners, walked away from the company for good.
So, who is Elise Loehnen and why did she leave Goop? Newsweek has everything you need to know.
Who Is Elise Loehnen?
Elise Loehnen is a writer, editor and podcast host who lives in Los Angeles.
Over the years she has co-authored 11 books, including with Ellen DeGeneres, Sophia Amoruso, Lea Michele and Lauren Conrad. Loehnen also worked at Conde Nast Traveler as editorial projects director and was the deputy editor of Lucky Magazine.
In 2014, she joined Goop as editorial director, before rising to the role of chief content officer (CCO).
Why Did Elise Loehnen Leave Goop?
Elise Loehnen resigned from her position in October 2020.
She stepped down in order to focus on writing her first non-fiction book and launch her own podcast, Pulling the Thread, People reported.
In a statement at the time regarding Loehnen’s departure, Paltrow said: “Elise has been my counterpart in building this business for the last seven years, and without her, Goop in this iteration wouldn’t exist.
“She’s also one of my favorite writers, and it’s time for the world to finally see that with her impending book. Elise is like a sister to me, and I plan to watch proudly as she enters this monumental stage in her professional life.”
In a recent Instagram post, Loehnen reflected on her time at Goop and shared with her 52,000 followers that doing Goop cleanses “distorted” her body image, leading her to vow to “never do another cleanse again.”
Goop subscribers and fans of the Netflix series will know at the beginning of every year, Goop hosts a cleanse, and Paltrow is a huge fan of them herself.
In her Instagram video, Loehnen shared: “When I left my job at Goop two years ago, I decided to foreswear all cleansing. To me, it had become synonymous with dieting and restriction, and I felt like I was not in a healthy relationship with my body, where I was always trying to punish it [and] bring it under control.”
“I’ve been eating like a teenager for two years and I’ve been enjoying it, to be honest.”
In the caption alongside the video, Loehnen went into more detail on her experience of cleansing.
She penned: “When I left Goop, I vowed to never do another cleanse again and went into full rebellion, which has been kind of fun, and definitely healthy in terms of letting go of ideas of what my body should look like as a 42-year-old who has had two kids. I needed to break a tendency to be critical and punishing. To chastise myself. All of it. I stopped weighing myself completely.”
In the video and caption, Loehnen shared she recently tried a five-day cleanse called “CHROMA,” but did things differently this time by not weighing herself and eating more protein and vegetables.
She ended her post by writing: “I refuse to punish myself with food, or hold myself under the weight my body seems to want to be anymore. I don’t have the energy or the interest, thankfully. (And more importantly, I’ve come to realize that I really like my body and am grateful it is mine.) Hopefully, I’ve broken that cycle for good.”
Newsweek has contacted Loehnen for comment.
The Goop Lab is streaming on Netflix now.
Photo by Rachel Murray/Getty Images
George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism