Gwyneth Paltrow has claimed she was the “victim” after claims she injured a man in “hit-and-run” ski crash.
The American actress is currently on trial in a US court after being sued by retired optometrist Terry Sanderson, who alleged that she skied “out of control” and hit him at Deer Valley Resort in Park City, Utah back in 2016.
He claimed that Gwyneth collided with him “knocking him down hard, knocking him out, and causing a brain injury, four broken ribs and other serious injuries”.
Mr Sanderson is seeking damages of $300k (€280k), having had his previous claim for $3.1 million (€2.89 million) dropped.
The original claim, filed in 2019, states: “This case involves a hit-and-run ski crash at Deer Valley, Utah, where defendant Gwyneth Paltrow skied out of control and hit the back of Terry Sanderson, another skier, who was downhill, knocking him down hard, knocking him out, and causing a brain injury, four broken ribs and other serious injuries.”
“Paltrow got up, turned and skied away, leaving Sanderson stunned, lying in the snow, seriously injured.”
Gwyneth later filed a counterclaim, for a “symbolic” $1, alleging that Mr Sanderson had hit her and delivered a full “body blow”.
Gwyneth took to the stand on Friday, and claimed she had been the “victim” in the 2016 incident.
The Hollywood star said she’d characterise herself as an intermediate skier and that her knowledge of the rules of skiing were “use common sense, ski safely, be aware of other skiers around you”.
When asked whether she knew the rules of being in a collision, Gwyneth said she would need to leave her contact information.
The actress told the court: “Because I was hit by Mr Sanderson and he was at fault I assumed that Eric (her ski instructor) who was overseeing everything… he said I should ski down because my children were waiting for me.”
She later told the court that she wouldn’t leave the scene of the incident without leaving details, claiming: “That information was left”.
“I was not engaging in any risky behaviour… I would not engage in risky behaviour with or without my children being there,” Gwyneth said.
“I have always been open and honest with my kids, and they know me very well.”
The actress went on to claim: “I was skiing, looking downhill as you do, and I was skied directly into my back by Mr Sanderson.”
Gwyneth claimed she knew a man had hit her because he was making “some strange noises that sounded male” and was “large”.
The GOOP founder described feelings of “confusion” before “getting upset a couple of seconds later,” as she thought it was a possible sexual assault.
“Two skis came between my skis and there was a body pressing against me… there was a strange grunting noise,” the mom-of-two explained.
“My brain was trying to make sense of what was happening, is it a practical joke, is someone doing something perverted?”
Gwyneth continued: “My mind was going very quickly and I was trying to ascertain what was happening.”
She added that there was a “sort of groan coming out of [Mr Sanderson]’s mouth”.
The actress recalled “yelling” at him after the incident, telling the court: “I remember pushing away because I was very upset and it was still very strange to me what had happened.”
“I pushed down the hill and I turned around and I yelled at him.”
When asked whether she screamed before she fell to the ground, Gwyneth said: “I don’t think so”.
“I absolutely froze… I don’t remember yelling or screaming until I was very angry at what happened.”
The Hollywood star told the jury that Mr Sanderson “mumbled” an apology after she shouted “you skied into my f***ing back!”.
The actress was asked whether she checked if Mr Sanderson was OK after the incident, to which she said: “When you’re the victim of a crash your psychology is not thinking about the person who perpetrated it.”
Gwyneth Paltrow testified in her ski injury trial she initially thought the man whom she says came up from behind her and collided with her was committing a sexual assault. https://t.co/HeRiwsS2Mn
— TMZ (@TMZ) March 24, 2023
Mr Sanderson’s lawyer Kristin Van Orman asked Gwyneth: “Who hit who?,” to which she replied: “Mr Sanderson hit me.”
Asked whether she feels empathy for him, the actress stated: “I feel very sorry for him, it seems like he’s had a very difficult life.”
“But I did not cause the accident so I cannot be at fault for anything that subsequently happened to him.”
The lawyer queried Gwyneth’s earlier statement that she liked to keep a low-profile while skiing, and asked whether “screaming at the top of your lungs profanities at [Mr Sanderson] while he’s on the ground keeping a low profile?”
“After an incident like that where you feel hurt and violated, unfortunately adrenaline can take over, and emotion as well,” the actress stated.
