On any given August night in the Hamptons, a wealthy Hollywood star is having dinner with a billionaire. It is one of the least surprising events of the summer social calendar.

But when reports surfaced earlier this week that Gwyneth Paltrow was doing just that, the online mobs were quick to call for her well-coiffed head.

After Puck reported that Paltrow was set to host a private, off-the-record dinner “in honor of” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, the Goop founder was widely condemned. Activist comedian Matt Bernstein even accused her of “technofascism.”

Paltrow is no stranger to provocations and controversies, whether she’s peddling vagina-scented candles or vibrator necklaces. But she’s also been widely celebrated and embraced for building a thriving business in Goop, normalizing conversations around menopause, and destigmatizing sexual taboos.

Evidently though, for many of her fans and followers, embracing one of the most consequential technologies in the history of the world crosses a line. Stick to selling pricey sex toys and organic teriyaki bowls and leave that stuff to Silicon Valley.

Paltrow is not the first prominent woman to face anger simply for associating with the technology.

Reese Witherspoon has made a career out of telling women’s stories. With her highly influential book club, she’s championed unknown authors, and she built Hello Sunshine into a $900 million company.

But, she took her support of us gals too far this past April when she publicly urged women to learn how to use AI so they would not be left behind.

In an Instagram post, she dared to note that “the jobs women hold are 3x more likely to be automated by AI, yet women are using AI at a rate 25% lower than men on average.”

The backlash was swift. Prominent author and supposed feminist Roxane Gay said “Oh Reese. Absolutely not.” Others accused her of shilling for AI companies. There was such a pile-on that Witherspoon had to issue a statement.

“No one is paying me to talk about this. I’m just a curious human,” she wrote. “I don’t believe computers should replace humanity. I’m planning on learning as much as possible so that I’m educated about this technological revolution. If you want to learn with me, great, let’s do this! If you don’t, that’s okay too.”

Meanwhile, male celebrities have embraced AI without such backlash — despite some hefty paydays. Matthew McConaughey has invested in the AI voice company ElevenLabs and licensed his own voice, while Ben Affleck founded an AI filmmaking startup, InterPositive, and sold it to Netflix for $587 million. Most of their fans don’t seem to mind.

Maybe part of the anger at Paltrow is due to the fact she’s dared to buck Hollywood’s progressive orthodoxy. 

On her podcast earlier this summer, she interviewed Anduril co-founder Trae Stephens and joked that her husband, Brad Falchuk, thinks she’s a Republican because she’s open to other views.

The episode led to stories like “Gwyneth Paltrow Just Goopified Drone Warfare.”

She also drew criticism in June for appearing in an advertising campaign for an Israeli luxury housing development. The Free Palestine crowd labeled the move “Gwynocide.”

The Teflon blond has taken it all in stride. This week, in response to the dinner invite brouhaha, she posted a series of troll invitations on Instagram that showed her hosting fictional characters like Shrek and serving bizarre items such as “swordfish burritos” and “cheddar foam lattes.”

All jokes aside, the backlash to her and Witherspoon proves that women need more friendly ways into the AI conversation — not harsh judgement.

There are plenty of reasons to be skeptical of AI companies but calling someone a fascist for hosting a dinner, treating any association with OpenAI as a crime and latching onto headlines like “I’d Rather Risk Cancer Than See AI Move This Fast” is ridiculous. Hating on this technology doesn’t help anyone and it isn’t empowering. 

We celebrate women like Paltrow and Witherspoon for building businesses and telling women’s stories but then are outraged that they’re trying to understand the changing economy and a new technology. Maybe the real fascism is imposing a purity test on the women adopting it.