Absent-minded or rude? Robert Downey Jr. took the stage to present Gwyneth Paltrow with an award and ended up exposing her in front of the entire entertainment industry.
It was at The Hollywood Reporter’s Women in Entertainment 2025 gala when he revealed that Paltrow once asked “who is that?”, pointing at Tom Holland.
She thought his real name was Peter. Downey Jr. had to clarify: that is the character’s name, Spider-Man. The actor’s name is Tom Holland. And no, it wasn’t the first time she had seen him: they had already filmed Spider-Man: Homecoming, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame together.
It’s not an isolated case. In 2019, on Netflix’s The Chef Show, director Jon Favreau had to remind her that she also appeared in Homecoming. Even so, after the joke, Paltrow took the stage and called Downey Jr. “the older brother I never had” 🕷️😅 That’s why some fans wonder: Is the actress really absent-minded, or is it on purpose?
