Paltrow insists Utah ski collision wasn’t her fault
Sam Metz |

Gwyneth Paltrow has insisted on the witness stand that a 2016 ski collision at an upscale Utah ski resort wasn’t her fault, claiming it began when the man suing her ran into her from behind.
The actor-turned-lifestyle influencer testified that the crash shocked her and the way the man’s skis veered between her legs made her worry at first that she was being “violated”.
“There was a body pressing against me and a very strange grunting noise,” she said on Friday.
“My brain was trying to make sense of what was happening,” she said. Paltrow later clarified that after her split-second panic, she realised the sudden collision wasn’t sexual in nature.
After sitting in court for four days, Paltrow spent more than two hours testifying to the Park City jury. She categorically denied fault for the collision.
Terry Sanderson, the retired optometrist who is suing her, is expected to take the stand on Monday.
Throughout Paltrow’s testimony, the founder of Goop repeatedly said Sanderson ran into her, causing them to end up splayed out on the beginner run with Paltrow on top and Sanderson beneath her.
Paltrow acknowledged that she yelled at Sanderson after the collision and didn’t stop to ask if he was OK.
She said she stood nearby as one of her family’s four ski instructors promised to give Sanderson her contact information and file an incident report.
Sanderson’s lawyers attempted to depict the decision as reflective of celebrity carelessness, while Paltrow insisted that she – not the 76-year-old man suing her – was the wounded party.
“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,” she said.
To draw the jury’s attention to Paltrow’s wealth, Sanderson’s lawyers probed Paltrow about the price of ski instructors at posh Deer Valley Resort and her decision to leave the mountain to get a massage the day of the crash.
Next week, Paltrow’s team might call her back to the stand, as well as medical experts, ski instructors and her two children, Moses and Apple.
Paltrow’s lawyers argue she didn’t cause the crash and the extent of Sanderson’s injuries is exaggerated.
They’ve raised questions about Sanderson’s motivation for suing Paltrow, probing his family members about his post-crash communications about her celebrity and his proximity to it.
They’ve asked two of Sanderson’s daughters whether their father thought it was “cool” to collide with a celebrity like Paltrow – characterisations they’ve denied.
After the collision, Sanderson sent his daughters an email with the subject line: “I’m famous … At what cost?”
The oldest daughter, Shae Herath, wrote back: “I also can’t believe this is all on GoPro.”
On Friday, Herath attempted to clarify the record amid questions about the possibility the crash was recorded on a bystander’s helmet camera.
She testified she didn’t know whether footage existed and said her email referred to an earlier phone conversation in which her father assumed there must be footage from someone on the crowded run.
While Sanderson’s lawyers have focused on their client’s health, Paltrow’s legal team has asked recurring questions about the mysterious, missing GoPro footage. No video has been found.
The proceedings have delved into the Sanderson’s medical history and personality changes, with lawyers questioning whether his deteriorating health and estranged relationships stemmed from the collision or natural ageing.
After a judge threw out Sanderson’s earlier $US3.1 million ($A4.7 million) lawsuit, Sanderson then claimed damages of “more than $US300,000”. Paltrow has countersued for a symbolic $US1 and lawyer fees.
AP