Gwyneth Paltrow took the stand Friday in a Park City, Utah, courtroom in her ski crash trial.
The 50-year-old Academy Award-winning actress and founding father of wellness model Goop — who’s being sued by retired optometrist Terry Sanderson, 77, over their 2016 collision on a Deer Valley ski slope — repeated that Sanderson was the one who slammed into her.
“Well, I was confused at first, and I didn’t know exactly what was happening,” Paltrow, who was dressed in a darkish high and skirt for her courtroom look, mentioned of the time instantly after the crash. “It’s a very strange thing to happen on a ski slope. And I froze, and I would say I got very upset a couple seconds later.”
She was requested about one thing she mentioned in her deposition, that she hadn’t identified if the incident was “an intentional assault of a sexual nature.”
“So that was a quick thought that went through my head when I was trying to reconcile what was happening,” Paltrow answered. “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, so my brain was trying to make sense of what was happening. I thought, ‘Is this a practical joke? Is someone, like, doing something perverted? This is really, really strange. My mind was going very, very quickly, and I was trying to ascertain what was happening.”
She confirmed that she had yelled at Sanderson, however mentioned she had later apologized to him for her language.
“I said, ‘You skied directly into my f***ing back,’ and he said, ‘Oh, sorry, sorry, I’m sorry,'” Paltrow mentioned. “I was pretty upset.”
The trial, which started Tuesday and is being presided over by Judge Kent R. Holmberg, is being stay streamed.
Paltrow was snowboarding together with her household on the upscale ski resort on Feb. 26, 2016. She and Sanderson collided on a newbie slope — and are at odds over who was at fault. Sanderson sustained 4 damaged ribs and a concussion after he claimed he was hit from behind by Paltrow and fell face first to the bottom. He mentioned he is suffered lingering well being points, together with mind damage signs. The Shakespeare in Love star, who has countersued, mentioned that Sanderson crashed into her from behind. She was shaken up and left the slopes. She was in discomfort after as an outdated knee damage was exacerbated by the collision, her lawyer mentioned in opening statements.
Sanderson filed this lawsuit towards Paltrow in 2019 initially searching for $3 million, however it’s been lowered to $300,000. She’s countersuing searching for “symbolic damages” of $1, plus authorized charges.
The trial had a really movie star second when Sanderson’s lawyer pressed Paltrow on whether or not she was searching for $1 as a result of Taylor Swift had as soon as accomplished so. This was a difficulty as a result of the lawyer claimed Paltrow’s reply on this level had modified over time.
“Are you good friends with Taylor Swift?”
“No,” Paltrow mentioned, earlier than being requested the identical query once more. “I would not say we are good friends. We are friendly. I’ve taken my kids to one of her concerts before, but we don’t talk very often.”
Paltrow was preceded on the stand Friday by Richard Boehme, a biomedical engineer, who testified as an skilled witness on Sanderson’s behalf. He evaluated Sanderson in 2021 and believed his rib accidents may solely be the results of being struck from behind. Mark Stephen Herath, the brother of Sanderson’s son-in-law, additionally testified. They regularly skied collectively prior and he talked about Sanderson’s ensuing reminiscence loss, confusion and paranoia after the collision. Sanderson’s daughter Shae Sanderson Herath additionally testified, saying her dad’s habits has modified because the accident, recalling an incident in which he screamed at his younger granddaughter.
Paltrow’s two kids Apple and Moses Martin — who have been snowboarding together with her that day alongside together with her now-husband Brad Falchuk — are additionally anticipated to testify in the case. The actress talked about that they’d attend Monday, with Apple lacking faculty and Moses on a break from it anyway.
At Thursday’s listening to, Paltrow reportedly wore a necklace price $25,000 that’s on the market on the Goop web site, which hasn’t gone unnoticed by the web. Also, her workforce tried to provide the bailiffs baked items, however have been denied in a clumsy second.
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