Gwyneth Paltrow Wins One Whole Dollar in Ski Crash Trial

Gwyneth Paltrow won the court battle over a 2016 ski collision at a posh Utah ski resort after the jury decided on Thursday that the movie star wasn’t at fault for the crash. After a two hour and 32-minute deliberation, the jury of eight in Utah’s Third District Court ultimately sided with the Goop founder, who maintained that Dr. Terry Sanderson, 76, caused the crash. They awarded the Iron Man alum $1, as per her demands in the countersuit she filed after Sanderson accused her of negligence.

According to BBC, while listening to the verdict in court, Ms. Paltrow was expressionless, staring straight ahead and appearing to nod slightly. She then left the courtroom, declining requests for comments. On her way out, she briefly stopped to speak to Mr. Sanderson. He later said she told him: "I wish you well."

Sanderson, a retired optometrist, sued Paltrow in 2019, three years after the incident at Deer Valley resort occurred. In his complaint, Sanderson accused Paltrow of negligence, saying she crashed into him from behind and caused him brain damage and other injuries. He was initially seeking $3.1 million in damages but later amended the suit to $300,000, reported Forbes.

Paltrow countersued, saying Sanderson was trying to exploit her celebrity, and it was he who crashed into her. She is seeking $1 in damages and attorney’s fees. Paltrow appeared in person in the live-streamed trial, and her behavior during it captured the attention of social media. When she took the stand, Paltrow said that when she and Sanderson crashed into each other, she believed she was experiencing a sexual assault, and screamed.

She also said that because of the altercation, she lost out on “half a day of skiing,” a phrase that’s since become a meme. Paltrow’s children, Moses and Apple, testified via read depositions about the crash. Much of the courtroom discussions have focused on which skier was uphill, as the skier who is downhill has the right of way on the slopes, according to the Associated Press. 

“I felt that acquiescing to a false claim compromised my integrity,” Paltrow said in a statement released by her representatives. “I am pleased with the outcome and I appreciate all of the hard work of Judge Holmberg and the jury, and thank them for their thoughtfulness in handling this case.”

Paltrow, an actor who in recent years has refashioned herself into a celebrity wellness entrepreneur, Paltrow looked to her attorneys with a pursed lips smile when the judge read the eight-member jury’s verdict in the Park City courtroom. She sat intently through two weeks of testimony in what became the biggest celebrity court case since actors Johnny Depp and Amber Heard faced off last year.

Worldwide audiences followed the celebrity trial as if it were episodic television. Viewers scrutinized both Paltrow and Sanderson’s motives, while attorneys directed questions to witnesses that often had less to do with the collision and more to do with their client’s reputations. The trial took place in Park City, a resort town known for hosting the annual Sundance Film Festival, where early in her career Paltrow appeared for the premieres of her movies including 1998’s Sliding Doors. Paltrow is also known for her roles in Shakespeare in Love and the Iron Man movies.