Gwyneth Paltrow testified on Friday afternoon that she felt “violated” during the 2016 ski collision at a mountain resort in Utah, over which she is being sued, and initially feared the crash might have been something “perverted” or a prank.
Terry Sanderson, a retired optometrist, is suing the Oscar-winning actor for $300,000, claiming that her recklessness caused the crash and left him with lasting physical injuries. He and experts say the crash significantly affected his life and relationships.
In two hours of testimony on Friday, Paltrow took the stand in a Park City courtroom and alleged that Sanderson crashed slowly into her as she was making her way down the slopes.
“I was skiing and two skis came between my skis, forcing my legs apart and then there was a body pressing against me and there was a very strange grunting noise,” Paltrow said. “My brain was trying to make sense of what was happening. I thought, ‘Is this a practical joke? Is someone doing something perverted? This is really, really strange.”
Sanderson and his attorneys have offered a different narrative, claiming that the lifestyle influencer “skied out of control”, crashing into him on a beginner run “knocking him down hard, knocking him out, and causing a brain injury, four broken ribs and other serious injuries”.
Paltrow denied that she ever engaged in “risky behavior” on a ski run with which she said she was previously familiar. She also said that she skied as she normally would even though her children were present that day.
“I wouldn’t engage with risky behavior, with or without my children there,” she testified.
During the exchange, an attorney for Sanderson appeared to be trying to establish that Paltrow would sometimes ski in a more risky fashion if her children were with her. Paltrow, however, denied ever doing that and said: “I have always been very open and honest with my kids. And they know me very well.”
When asked if she was being an aggressive skier, she said no and that slope was a green run filled with families. According to Paltrow, Sanderson had skied directly into her. She said it happened slowly with him running into her from behind, his skis in between hers, and then a fall a second or two later.
“I said, ‘You skied directly into my effing back and he said, ‘Oh sorry, sorry, I’m sorry,’” Paltrow said in court, adding that she was yelling at him.
“I was pretty upset,” she testified.
Paltrow’s behavior after the collision was the subject of multiple questions from both Sanderson’s attorney, who asked why the actor would yell at him if she wanted to maintain a “low profile” on the slopes, and her own lawyer.
“I felt violated. I was upset. I was worried about my knee,” Paltrow said. “It felt violating to have somebody press their body against my back and I’m sorry I cursed.”
At one point, Sanderson’s attorney asked Paltrow if she had inquired about any of the injuries sustained by Sanderson as a result of the accident.
“I think you have to keep in mind, when you’re the victim of a crash … your psychology is not necessarily thinking about the person who perpetrated it,” Paltrow replied, adding that she thought that Sanderson’s injuries were “very minor on the day”.
She also contested testimony from Greg Ramone, an acquaintance of Sanderson who claims to have seen Paltrow crash into Sanderson that day.
“I don’t know if he knows he’s lying but I’m telling you what he said is unfortunately not the truth,” she said.
“If you have two people in ski gear with helmets on and you’re 40-plus feet away, I’m not sure how you can discern who is who and I can tell you that he didn’t because Mr Sanderson categorically hit me on that ski slope and that is the truth,” said Paltrow.
Attorneys for Paltrow and Sanderson have been jostling to convince the 10-member jury which skier was positioned downhill and therefore had the right of way. Paltrow has countersued Sanderson. Sanderson’s daughter testified on Friday just before Paltrow went on the witness stand.
Mark Stephen Herath, the brother of Sanderson’s son-in-law, was first on the stand on Friday.
He talked about the lingering effects on Sanderson of the skiing incident at the resort in Park City, Utah, the mountain town where the Sundance film festival also takes place.
He told the jury, of Sanderson: “His comprehension had gone down, he’d get confused … It was like day and night before and after the accident. I think he tried to go skiing a couple of times but I don’t think he’s gone since the accident.”
In a trial that the judge, Kent Holmberg, and attorneys for both parties have agreed will last eight days, with each side getting four days to call their own witnesses, Friday marks the final day that Sanderson’s attorneys can compel Paltrow to testify.
In previous depositions in the drawn-out case, she has said she “froze” when the crash happened, while she was on a beginners’ slope with one of her children.
“We came crashing down together. This man was behind me on the mountain,” she said in November 2020. “My knee – and our skis were still sort of tangled up. Our bodies were almost spooning and I moved away quickly. And my knee splayed open, and I was in shock.”
The trial thus far has shone a spotlight on Park City and Deer Valley resort, where Paltrow and Sanderson collided. The resort is among the most upscale in North America, known for sunny slopes, après-ski champagne yurts and luxury lodges.
The proceedings have delved deep into the 76-year-old Sanderson’s medical history and personality quirks, with attorneys questioning whether his deteriorating health and estranged relationships stemmed from the collision or natural process of ageing.
The trial has touched on themes ranging from skier’s etiquette to the power – and burden – of celebrity.
Sanderson is seeking “more than $300,000” in damages, while Paltrow has countersued for $1 and attorney fees. The amount of money at stake for both sides is relatively small for such a case.
Lawyers for Paltrow spent much of Thursday raising questions about Sanderson’s mentions of her wealth and celebrity as well as what they called his “obsession” with the lawsuit.
The proceedings will resume on Monday with Sanderson slated to testify. Paltrow’s team is also expected to call medical experts, ski instructors and her two children, Moses and Apple.
