During his appearance at The Hollywood Reporter’s 2025 Women in Entertainment Gala, Robert Downey Jr. shared a humorous behind-the-scenes moment involving longtime Marvel co-star Gwyneth Paltrow — a moment that once again highlighted her well-documented confusion about some of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s details.

Downey told attendees that, at one point, Paltrow seemed not to recognise Tom Holland, the actor who has played Spider-Man in multiple MCU films. According to Downey, Paltrow asked him who Holland was, even though the two had already appeared together in several high-profile Marvel titles including Spider-Man: Homecoming, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame.

Downey described his response with his trademark dry humour: he reminded her, “That’s Spider-Man. He said his name was Peter. His character’s name is Peter. He’s Tom Holland. You’ve done four movies with him.” His retelling drew laughter from the audience, adding another memorable moment to the long-running joke that Paltrow often forgets which Marvel films she appeared in.

Despite the playful jab, Downey used the majority of his speech to celebrate Paltrow’s achievements, praising her as an entrepreneur, an influential performer, and a friend who has been central to the MCU since its early days.