The New York Times magazine's Sunday cover story about Marissa Mayer revealed that the Yahoo! CEO barred Academy award-winning actress, Gwyneth Paltrow from becoming a Yahoo! food contributor because she lacked a college degree, Refinery29 reports.

"Even though the actress Gwyneth Paltrow had created a best-selling cookbook and popular lifestyle blog, Mayer, who habitually asked deputies where they attended college, balked at hiring her as a contributing editor for Yahoo Food," the article states. "According to one executive, Mayer disapproved of the fact that Paltrow did not graduate college."

Refinery 29 reports that Paltrow dropped out of the University of California, Santa Barbara to pursue her acting career. Meanwhile, Mayer has her B.S. and M.S. from Stanford University.

In addition to acting, Paltrow has gone on to create a successful lifestyle brand, Goop.

"Goop is one of the rare places on the web where food, shopping, and mindfulness collide-where the ever-evolving intent is to make every choice count. We're all resource strapped, so goop hopes to surface the very best experiences, recipes, products, and advice," states the website.

Paltrow launched Goop as an e-mail newsletter back in 2008 and continued to expand the brand over the years.

In a past interview with the New York Times, Paltrow revealed that Drew Barrymoore thanked her for creating Goop which has prompted other celebrities to create their own brands.

Following the launch of Paltrow's Goop, Barrymore launched her own cosmetic line, Flower, in 2012, the New York Times reports.

Despite the thanks she's received from other celebrities on her brand, lifestyle guru, Martha Stewart has publicly slammed Paltrow for creating a brand similar to hers.

"She just needs to be quiet. She's a movie star. If she were confident in her acting, she wouldn't be trying to be Martha Stewart," Stewart told Net-A-Porter back in September.

Paltrow has yet to respond to Stewart's comments or Mayer's NYT cover story.

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