Robert Downey Jr. roasts and honors Gwyneth Paltrow at THR Women in Entertainment gala

Robert Downey Jr. teased Gwyneth Paltrow, even about forgetting Tom Holland, while honoring her at THR’s gala

Robert Downey Jr. delivered a perfectly balanced mix of affection, admiration, and light-hearted teasing as he presented Gwyneth Paltrow with the 20th annual Sherry Lansing Leadership Award at The Hollywood Reporter’s Women in Entertainment gala on Wednesday.

Taking the stage at the Beverly Hills Hotel, the Iron Man star wasted no time poking fun at his longtime Marvel co-star for her famously fuzzy memory of the MCU.

“Impossibly intelligent, yet forever confused by the basic tenets of the Marvel Cinematic Universe,” he joked, recalling her many viral moments of forgetting which films she’d appeared in.

At one point, he quipped, she even asked him, “Who’s that?” — referring, he claimed, to Spider-Man. “You’ve done four movies with him,” he deadpanned.

But Downey’s roast was softened with genuine admiration for Paltrow’s decades-long career, which has spanned everything from her Oscar-winning breakout in Shakespeare in Love to her upcoming film Marty Supreme.

He praised her ferocious work ethic, “building Goop between takes on Iron Man,” as he put it, and her ability to balance entrepreneurial success, motherhood, and acting without missing a beat.

He also fondly revisited her pop-culture-shaking “conscious uncoupling” with Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, joking that Hollywood has “done a great job not emulating” the concept.

And in true Downey fashion, he couldn’t resist referencing her headline-making 2023 ski trial, applauding her poised performance that went on to inspire a stage musical.

“Polarizing,” he said, “is a word used by dingbats to describe powerful women who remain relevant for decades.” The room erupted as he concluded with: “It’s time to recognize… Gwyneth fuggin’ Paltrow.”

Paltrow, who appears on the cover of THR’s Women in Entertainment issue, received the award following speeches from a star-studded lineup including Dakota Johnson, Sarah Paulson, Regina Hall, Goldie Hawn, Jimmy Kimmel, and Molly McNearney. Jennifer Lopez was also honored, receiving the Equity in Entertainment Award from Kerry Washington.

This year’s Women in Entertainment breakfast was hosted by Rachel Sennott and presented by Lifetime, with sponsorship from Delta Air Lines, Medicube, Reyka Vodka, and Seven Bucks Productions, and in partnership with organizations including Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Los Angeles and the Entertainment Industry Foundation.