Gwyneth Paltrow is cornered at Delta check-in desk in Rome by reporter grilling her about Saudi engagements

• READ MORE: US grants political asylum to Jamal Khashoggi widow

Gwyneth Paltrow was approached at an airport check-in desk in Italy by a journalist demanding answers on her connections to Saudi Arabia.

The Goop founder had no response for the reporter as she queued at the Delta departures desk in the Rome airport on Tuesday.

Foreign policy reporter Jonathan Guyer shared a photo of the interaction showing the 51-year-old actress sporting a fresh tan and a nearly all-white outfit with a sweater wrapped around her shoulders and a crossbody bag.

The journalist claimed that he interrogated Paltrow about her recent Saudi Arabia engagements including a conference linked to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, but her only response was to look away.

'I asked her why she took the stage earlier this year at a Saudi investment conference, a big-money party that ultimately benefits the killers of Jamal Khashoggi,' Guyer said.

Paltrow has been slammed by critics for ignoring Saudi Arabia's 'egregious human rights record' while attending prestigious events country.

She attended the Future Investment Initiative in Miami which was sponsored by Saudi's Public Investment Fund in February, reported The New York Times.

In December, the Oscar-winning actress attended the closing ceremony of The Red Sea Film Festival in Saudi Arabia.

She dazzled onlookers in a voluminous yellow dress as she posed alongside CEO of the Red Sea Film Foundation, Mohammed Al Turki.  

Human rights campaigners have said that The Red Sea Film Festival is another example of the regime's 'arts-washing' and 'sports-washing' campaign, whereby glamorous international events are hosted in a country to distract from its immoral behavior.

Inside the oil-rich kingdom homosexuality remains a crime punishable by death and women still do not have equal rights and are considered the property of their fathers or husbands.

Critics of the regime are regularly imprisoned and in 2018 dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed by agents of the Saudi Government at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey.

Paltrow's attendance was especially surprising as, outside of her role as Pepper Potts in Marvel films, she has not had a leading role in a film since Mortdecai in 2015.

But it is rumored that A-list celebrities including Paltrow, Johnny Depp and Will Smith were offered around $1 million to walk the red carpet in Jeddah.

Puck news website claimed that: '$1 million was the standing offer that went around the talent agencies for major stars to walk the carpet… Will Smith may even have gotten more than that.'

DailyMail.com has reached out to Paltrow's representatives and Guyer for comment.