Gwyneth Paltrow

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The first thing we thought when we read Gwyneth Paltrow‘s comparison of her Botoxed face to Joan Rivers‘s was: What would Joan have to say about that?

Lucky enough, Rivers called Friday to answer just that. (“I would have written the response myself, but I have so much Botox in my thumbs, I can’t type,” she quipped.)

“First reaction: ‘Ooh, she watches Fashion Police!’” Rivers tells PEOPLE, laughing. “It just made me laugh. She says Botox made her scary like Joan Rivers? She should see what I look like without Botox. That’s really scary!”

And Rivers says she’s able to laugh about jabs like that because she’s already in on the joke. “I’ve always been open about what I do, because I want [women] to be able to get Botox and not look like a Sharpei,” she says. “[Lying about having work done] is such a put down to women. It says to the average woman: ‘I’m beautiful naturally and you’re not.’”

Her advice to Paltrow? Stop taking yourself too seriously. “You’ve got the golden ring, enjoy it!” she says. And one last parting thought? “If she lived in New York, I’d tell her to go to hell,” she jokes. But since Paltrow’s now a Londoner, Rivers affects a British accent: “Go to Halifax!”

Tell us: What did you think about Paltrow’s comment? Do you agree with Rivers?

–Alex Apatoff

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Courtesy Harper’s Bazaar

Gwyneth Paltrow‘s life is all about balance these days. She’s balancing her movie career with her business ventures. Being a mom with finding time for herself.

And, she confesses in the May issue of Harper’s Bazaar, “finding the balance between cigarettes and tofu.”

The healthy-living queen, who admits in her revealing interview that she treats herself to one cigarette a week, also owns up to mixing high-tech skincare with organic products.

But when it comes to more than just laser treatments, she’s still hesitant. “I would be scared to go under the knife, but you know, talk to me when I’m 50. I’ll try anything. Except I won’t do Botox again, because I looked crazy. I looked like Joan Rivers!”

Paltrow also says she’d love to move from the artsier films she’s known for to an “outrageous girl comedy” — not least of all, we assume, because she doesn’t have to get in the superhero shape necessary for her skin-baring scenes in Iron Man 3.
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