Gwyneth Paltrow Starts the Damage Control

So much damage control going on in Hollywood lately! This time it's Gwyneth Paltrow, who has recently been accused of making anti-American remarks (and thereby alienating 90 percent of her audience). She told People that she is deeply upset about the stories quoting her as saying: "I like living here [in England] because I don't fit into the bad side of American psychology. The British are much more intelligent and civilized than the Americans." Ouch.

Here's what she says to defend herself:

"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," Paltrow tells PEOPLE. "I feel so proud to be American."

"I felt so upset to be completely misconstrued and I never, ever would have said that," says the 34-year-old Oscar winner. "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."

So my first reaction was that her explanation didn't explain anything. But then Gwyneth played the good old language difference card:

As for where the quotes came from, Paltrow says she did not give an interview to the Portuguese daily newspaper, though she did give a press conference - in Spanish - for an endorsement she did in Spain.

"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," says the actress, adding, "Obviously I need to go back to seventh-grade Spanish!"

Photo from People.