Latest news with #sex education
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Gwyneth Paltrow was taught X-rated move from A-lister's wife as a teen, bombshell tell-all claims
Forget health class, Gwyneth Paltrow got an unforgettable lesson in the birds and the bees from the future wife of a Hollywood heartthrob, according to a juicy new biography. In the tell-all Gwyneth: A Biography by Amy Odell, it's alleged that the now 52-year-old actress and wellness mogul got an unexpected education in sex during a visit to one of her mom's TV sets. Odell claims that while the Oscar winner was in 10th grade, she tagged along to Florida, where her mother Blythe Danner was filming the 1990 movie Judgment. There, young Gwyneth reportedly struck up a friendship with a then up-and-coming makeup artist — Sheryl Berkoff — who would later go on to marry none other than Rob Lowe. Paltrow admitted as much on Lowe's Literally! podcast in July 2020. 'First of all, she was dating Keanu Reeves, who was my celebrity crush. And she was so cool,' the Shakespeare in Love actress said. 'She knew that I was sneaking cigarettes, and she would come smoke with me behind the trailer. And, she taught me how to give a blow job, and you know, all the classic Sheryl stuff,' she told the actor. 'And I just worshipped her. I thought she was literally the coolest chick of all time. And she was so awesome to me!' Paltrow gushed. The actress would later live with Lowe and Berkoff when she first moved to Los Angeles after dropping out of college to pursue acting. The teen's own charisma drew many of her fellow classmates to her at the Spence, the private girls school she attended. An excerpt of the book given to US Weekly, claims 'She established herself as an interesting person — someone people wanted to hang out with,' recalled the head of the middle school at the time, Kate Turley. 'It was easy for her to make her way. But other students seemed to feel threatened.' Odell said, 'One classmate recalled, 'Not one person had a doubt that she was going to be famous.' After all, she might spend a weekend with someone like [her godfather] Steven Spielberg. But she was also polarizing.' One of those polarizing incidents was apparently when Paltrow, who had inherited her father Bruce Paltrow's bawdy sense of humor, allegedly drew some X-rated art in the school library. 'One day, Spence's rather humorless librarian approached [head of school and Gwyneth's advisor James] Dawson, outraged that a student had drawn, on the partition of a study cubicle, an erect penis. She sent all four girls — Gwyneth among them — who had been in the library at the time to Dawson,' Odell wrote. 'Dawson made an ominous threat: 'All right, folks, this is completely uncalled for and obnoxious, so I'm going to suspend you all and put it on your college record.' 'I didn't do it,' said one girl, who left. The second girl said she didn't have anything to do with it either.' 'Down to the third girl and Gwyneth, Dawson doubled down on his ultimatum, prompting the other girl to insist she wasn't responsible and leave.' Paltrow lived with Lowe and Berkoff for a while when she first moved to Los Angeles and has remained close to the couple; Pictured in Los Angeles in December 2015 'Dawson now faced just Gwyneth. 'Gwyneth, you drew the erect penis in the library,' he said. 'I'm not really sure what you're talking about,' she said. He presented a picture the library had given him of the masterpiece. 'Oh, that penis,' Gwyneth said. 'I wasn't sure what we were talking about.'' 'Dawson pointed out that the other students had had to suffer through the confrontation with her. 'Come on, where's your sense of humor?' He often found her amusing, but replied, 'In the library, are you kidding me?' Gwyneth became annoyed when she had to clean it up.'
Telegraph
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Labour clearing way for gender identity lessons in schools, say Tories
Labour has paved the way for lessons on gender identity in schools, the Conservatives have claimed. New sex education guidance, published on Tuesday, watered down Tory proposals to ban lessons on gender identity. The Government's updated relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) guidance said schools should teach children the facts and law around gender reassignment, but did not rule out wider debates on gender identity. From September next year, secondary schools will be told to separate science from opinion in lessons on the topic and ensure they do 'not teach as fact that all people have a gender identity'. Labour has removed a section from the draft guidance drawn up by the Tories, which stated that 'schools should not teach about the broader concept of gender identity' amid claims that it 'is a highly contested and complex subject'. Teachers will instead be instructed to 'be mindful' that there is 'significant debate' around the subject and to 'be careful not to endorse any particular view or teach it as fact', the new guidance says. 'There must be strict age limits' Laura Trott, the shadow education secretary, claimed it could pave the way for inappropriate debates on gender identity that failed to distinguish facts from contested views. 'The new guidance opens the door to controversial gender identity discussions that have no place in our schools,' she said. 'Labour's updated RSHE guidance utterly fails to shield children from inappropriate content. There must be strict age limits – children under nine should not be exposed to lessons on sex, pornography, or harassment.' The Government said it chose to amend the Tory proposals on gender identity after the majority of respondents to a consultation on the matter said they disagreed with them. Almost two thirds of more than 14,000 people consulted said they did not support calls to ban gender identity discussions from the classroom. Responses highlighted by the Government said it would be impossible for schools to fulfil their legal obligation to teach children about gender reassignment without the topic arising. However, others expressed concerns about 'how to teach about gender identity while complying with duties in the education act to be politically impartial'. Schools should avoid sex education materials that 'oversimplify' the matter, perpetuate gender stereotypes or 'encourage pupils to question their gender', the new guidance says. Labour has also chosen to take forward Tory proposals for parents to be able to see sex education material upon request and withdraw their children from lessons if they disagree with the content. Helen Joyce, the founder of Sex Matters, said it came after Mermaids, a controversial trans children's charity, produced a chart teaching pupils their gender identity 'on a scale that runs from Barbie to GI Joe'. 'Far too much harm has already been done by sexist and frankly stupid teaching materials that lie to children by telling them it's your personality and interests that determine whether you're a boy or a girl,' she said. Labour's revised guidance, which comes more than a year after the closure of a public consultation on the draft Tory regulations, has also scrapped plans to ban sex education for children under the age of nine. The previous Tory government had called for sex education lessons to be limited to pupils in Year Five and above amid concerns that children were being exposed to explicit content before they are mature enough. It had also proposed for issues such as sexual harassment, revenge porn, upskirting and sexual exploitation not to be taught before Year Seven and for discussions of extreme sexual violence not to take place before Year Nine. 'Labour keep dragging their feet' Primary school pupils will now be taught about things like pornography and deepfakes if teachers become aware that pupils have already stumbled across them online, after a 2023 report by the Children's Commissioner found the average age for exposure to pornography was 13. Bridget Phillipson, the Education Secretary, told the BBC that it might be necessary 'to broach a topic a little bit sooner' than usual in some schools, but that parents would be consulted in such cases. The Department for Education will issue separate guidance later this year, advising schools on appropriate measures for gender-questioning children, such as whether teachers should adopt preferred pronouns or tell a child's parent about a name change request. Ms Trott said: 'The Education Secretary's top priority must be safeguarding children and protecting women and girls, but Labour keep dragging their feet on publishing clear guidance on gender-questioning children. This failure is unacceptable. Our children and parents deserve better.' Margaret Mulholland, the inclusion specialist at the Association of School and College Leaders, said: 'We hope soon to see specific guidance on supporting gender-questioning children, something for which we have been calling for several years.'
