Gwyneth Paltrow declares: 'I'm proud to be American'

Gwyneth Paltrow

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California-born actress Gwyneth Paltrow denies anti-American comments attributed to her, despite being quoted by a newspaper as saying, "The British are much more intelligent and civilized than the Americans."

"I felt so upset to be completely misconstrued and I never, ever would have said that," the 34-year-old Oscar winner tells People magazine. "I definitely did not say that I think the British are more intelligent and civilized than Americans. I am a New York girl, that's how I always think of myself and see myself."

The complete quote to "NS," the weekend magazine supplement of daily Portuguese newspaper Diario de Noticias on Saturday, stated:

"I love the English lifestyle, it's not as capitalistic as America. People don't talk about work and money, they talk about interesting things at dinner," Paltrow said. "I like living here because I don't fit into the bad side of American psychology. The British are much more intelligent and civilized than the Americans."

But Paltrow is now suggesting she was misunderstood.

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"First of all I feel so lucky to be American. When you look at the rest of the world, we're so lucky, and that's something my dad always instilled in me," she told People. "I feel so proud to be American."

She notes her original comments were made at a news conference in Spanish.

"This is what I said. I said that Europe is a much older culture and there's a difference. I always say in America, people live to work and in Europe, people work to live. There are positives in both," Paltrow said, adding, "Obviously I need to go back to seventh-grade Spanish!"

Fox News host John Gibson

"Hating America is an old tradition in Europe and Britain," said Fox News host John Gibson. "I'm constantly amazed that it is a theme that will just not go away. So, Gwynie says the Brits are smarter and more civilized. What else is new? She is not acceptable in British society unless she says that. You have to hate America to get invited to dinner. And once you are at dinner, you better have a few things to say about how awful America and Americans are."

Paltrow, who starred in "Shakespeare in Love" and "Shallow Hal," lives part-time in London with her British husband, Coldplay singer Chris Martin, and their two children, Apple, 2, and Moses, 7 months.

As WND previously reported, Paltrow, who once said she would not raise her child in the United States because her homeland is too dangerous, eventually changed her mind about her residency.

"I've been here as much as there," she said. "I'm sticking around."

In January 2004, Paltrow stated: "I worry about bringing up a child in America.

"At the moment there's a weird, over-patriotic atmosphere over there, like, 'We're number one and the rest of the world doesn't matter.'"

She added: "And the guns in school – it's not great."

Paltrow raised the ire of many patriotic Americans by saying: "I just had a baby and thought, 'I don't want to live there.' Bush's anti-environment, pro-war policies are a [disgrace]."

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