Yahoo News Gwyneth Paltrow Tells Utah Court She Screamed “You Skied Into My F-ing Back” At Septuagenarian After 2016 Collision On Resort Slopes
UPDATED with more details from Paltrow’s testimony: “I was skiing and looking downhill, as you do, and I was skied directly into by Mr. Sanderson,” Gwyneth Paltrow insisted on the witness stand in a Park City courtroom today.
She also said she thought for a second the 2016 collision with septuagenarian Terry Sanderson was a “sexual assault” and “he was making some strange noises that sounded male.”
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In front of Utah Judge Kent Holmberg, Sanderson, a jury and lawyers for both sides, Paltrow said in testimony Friday that the notion of a sexual assault “was a quick thought that went through my head, when I was trying to reconcile what was happening.” Further questioned by Sanderson’s lawyer Kristin A. VanOrman, Paltrow made it very clear that she does not now believe that what occurred all those years ago was a sexual attack of any kind.
Initially suing the Shakespeare in Love Oscar winner for $3 million over the encounter on Utah’s Deer Valley Resort’s slopes, the retired optometrist saw his case whittled down to a pursuit of $300,000 in damages. Paltrow is countersuing Sanderson for damages of $1 and attorney’s fees that could run into the six figures.
Both Sanderson and Paltrow claim they had the right of way on the ski run.
While delivering a shout-out to the skills of paparazzi, Paltrow noted that Sanderson and no one else knew that she was a Hollywood movie star when the accident happened. Paltrow also noted that she “has no witnesses who saw the collision.”
Now 76, Sanderson alleges that he was hit on the upscale resort’s slopes seven years ago by Paltrow as she was skiing with an instructor and group, including her two children, now-husband producer Brad Falchuk and his two children. The plaintiff, who has been in court all week, said he suffered several broken ribs and a brain injury in the incident. He also claims Paltrow and her instructor skied off, leaving him confused and shaken and without trying to make sure he received medical care.
As she stated Friday and has said before, Paltrow believes that it was Sanderson who slammed into her, his skis came between her legs and he skied right “into my back.” The witness said that she could not remember if she “fell over with Mr. Sanderson” but admitted that they both went down. “I turned around and yelled at him,” Paltrow said, after landing on Sanderson, who hit the snow. “I was very angry at what had happened.”
“You skied into my f-ing back,” an openly embarrassed Paltrow said she “screamed” at Sanderson in front of her son. “I was full of adrenaline … sorry I cursed,” she stated much later under questioning from her own lawyer Stephen Owen, making a point of telling the court she felt “violated” by Sanderson.
All agreed after the accident that Sanderson mumbled “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” In that context, Paltrow “remembered moving away from Mr. Sanderson” before soon leaving the scene. She could not recall if she asked Sanderson if he was OK before going away. But, making a reference to Tinseltown assistants and others, she did remember that it was implied ski instructor Eric Christiansen would “represent” her in the accident, and he told her to “go ahead.”
The crash occurred as Paltrow was heading down the hill for lunch, which they had. With Sanderson’s lawyers attempting again and again to trip up the witness on “inconsistencies,” Paltrow said today that she stuck around long enough to “see he was OK, stand up.”
Paltrow also admitted it was “fair” to say she was not there when paperwork was exchanged and in fact no one among her party saw the collision, including ski instructor Christiansen. “Eric did on my behalf,” Paltrow reiterated on who filled out forms about the accident. The actor did say that she did not believe Craig Ramone, a man “40 feet away and color blind,” actually saw what happened and said his testimony for Sanderson is wrong.
“I don’t know if he’s lying, [but] what he is saying is not the truth,” Paltrow testified. “Mr. Sanderson categorically hit me on that ski slope. … it’s the truth.”
Earlier Paltrow said “I don’t remember” when asked whether her children were seeking her attention on the slopes as the accident happened. The actor’s 2020 virtual deposition was put before her, and in those statements of three years ago, she clearly laid out that she was paying attention to one of her children when the incident occurred.
if that interaction with attorney VanOrman was touch and go in court, it looked even more touch and go for a while whether Paltrow, who has also been in the Park City courtroom all week, would take the stand today. As it was, after longer than expected time on the stand for one of Sanderson’s daughters, the actor was up Friday soon after the Mountain time afternoon recess.
This being a celebrity case and in the media spotlight, it wasn’t long into Paltrow’s testimony before the Goop founder’s lawyers objected to questioning, and everything stopped as they attorneys went to talk with the judge. They approached the bench several times during Paltrow’s time on the stand.
Earlier in the day, Paltrow lawyer Owen got extremely personal with the Sanderson family, their dynamic and mental health history, in an obvious effort to undermine the elder Sanderson’s credibility. Friday’s effort by the often-curt Owen followed the attorney apologizing on Thursday to offspring Polly Sanderson Grasham for being an “ass” in his cross-examination. Today, Owen admitted his approach is why “people don’t like lawyers.”
Sanderson, Falchuk, Paltrow’s children Moses and Apple and experts will be called as witnesses for the defense next week. The first of those seven witnesses will take the stand at 9 a.m. MT on March 27. Sanderson was expected to testify on March 30, though that has now been moved to Monday, at least in part.
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