Academy Award winning actress, founder of lifestyle and wellness brand Goop, and lover of rectal ozone therapy Gwyneth Paltrow is on trial for colliding with a man on the beginner ski run at Deer Valley Resort in Utah in February 2016.
Paltrow, 50, is being sued for a minimum of USD $300,000 by retired optometrist Terry Sanderson, 76, who says the actress “recklessly” crashed into him while skiing – a collision he says caused him severe brain injuries and has thus affected his quality of life. Paltrow has denied the claim and is counter-suing Sanderson for $1 plus legal fees, alleging it was him who crashed into her.
In the first two days of the trial, Sanderson’s attorneys and expert medical witnesses have attributed his injuries to likely being caused by someone crashing into him from behind, and then landing on top of him.
Sanderson was left with a concussion and four broken ribs. He says Paltrow continued to ski down the slope.
“The rib fractures certainly corroborate that there was enough force to cause a head injury,” testified radiologist Dr. Wendell Gibby.
Conversely, Paltrow’s team – who are yet to call witnesses – will argue that Sanderson’s decline has followed a normal course of ageing.
Sanderson’s daughter, Polly Sanderson-Grasham, took the stand overnight where she described her father as a “fun-loving, gregarious” man who was also an experienced skier. She said her father’s mental decline post the accident was most obvious to her at his grand-daughter’s graduation which took place three months post the collision.
“There was a moment when I almost expected drool to come out of his mouth,” she said. “He wasn’t engaged with anyone … that was my first slap in the face that something is terribly wrong.”
“He’s [now] easily frustrated, he gets agitated, angry – I didn’t have memory of him being an angry person, but he’s got a pretty short fuse these days,” she continued. “I think he’s just a little more cautious, not as confident – he’s in a really negative place and that’s hard for me as his daughter.”
Sanderson’s attorney’s hope they can convince jurors – four men and six women – that their client’s life-altering injuries were caused by the actresses ignorance. Paltrow’s husband Brad Falchuk, and her children, Apple and Moses, will take the stand.
You can follow the trial live here.
