Gwyneth Paltrow insisted Utah ski collision wasn't her fault
Gwyneth Paltrow insisted Utah ski collision wasn't her fault
PARK CITY, Utah -
Gwyneth Paltrow insisted Friday on the witness stand that a 2016 ski collision at an upscale Utah ski resort wasn't her fault, claiming it began when the man suing her ran into her from behind.
The actor-turned-lifestyle influencer testified that the crash shocked her -- and the way the man's skis veered between her two legs made her worry at first that she was being "violated," she said.
"There was a body pressing against me and a very strange grunting noise," she said.
"My brain was trying to make sense of what was happening," she continued. Paltrow later clarified that after her split-second panic, she realized that the sudden collision wasn't sexual in nature.
After sitting in court for four days, Paltrow remained calm and collected for more than two hours on the witness stand. Members of the Park City jury sat transfixed while she categorically denied fault for the collision.
Terry Sanderson, the retired optometrist who is suing her, is expected to give an opposing account of the crash when he takes the stand first on Monday.
Throughout Paltrow's heavily anticipated testimony, the founder-CEO of Goop calmly and repeatedly said that Sanderson, sitting several feet away in court, ran into her -- causing the two skiers to end up splayed out on the beginner run with Paltrow on top and Sanderson beneath her. In the seconds after the collision, Paltrow acknowledged that she yelled at Sanderson and didn't stop to ask if he was OK. Paltrow testified that she stood nearby on the mountain as one of her family's four ski instructors promised to give Sanderson her contact information and file an incident report.
In an exchange that touched on recurring themes of the trial, Sanderson's attorneys attempted to depict the decision as reflective of celebrity carelessness, while Paltrow insisted that she -- not the 76-year-old man suing her -- was the wounded party.
"You have to keep in mind, when you're the victim of a crash, your psychology is not necessarily thinking about the person who perpetrated it," she said.
To draw the jury's attention to Paltrow's wealth, Sanderson's lawyers probed Paltrow about the price of ski instructors at posh Deer Valley Resort and her decision to leave the mountain to get a massage the day of the crash.
Sanderson and his multiple-member legal team at one point dispersed themselves across the courtroom to possibly reenact the crash for the jury, whose members perked up after days of yawning through jargon-dense medical testimony about his broken ribs, concussion and brain damage.
Paltrow's attorneys objected to her participation in such a reenactment, leaving her sitting on the witness stand watching the lawyer questioning her take on the role of the Oscar-winning actor.
Next week, Paltrow's team may call her back to the stand, as well as medical experts, ski instructors and her two children, Moses and Apple.
The trial has touched on themes ranging from skier's etiquette to the power -- and burden -- of celebrity. The amount of money at stake for both sides pales in comparison to the typical legal costs of a multiyear lawsuit, private security detail and expert witness-heavy trial.
Throughout the week in Utah, Paltrow's legal team has asked for special restrictions, including limiting photography both in the courtroom and in the public parking lot outside -- where a rope cordons off Paltrow's entrance and exit paths. Unlike most trials, the court has not published a witness list.
Paltrow's attorneys argue both that she didn't cause the crash and that the extent of Sanderson's injuries is exaggerated. They've raised questions about Sanderson's motivation for suing Paltrow, probing his family members about his post-crash communications about her celebrity and his proximity to it.
They've asked two of Sanderson's daughters whether their father thought it was "cool" to collide with a celebrity like Paltrow -- characterizations they've denied.
After the collision, Sanderson sent his daughters an email with the subject line: "I'm famous ... At what cost?" The oldest daughter, Shae Herath, wrote back: "I also can't believe this is all on GoPro."
On Friday, Herath attempted to clarify the record amid questions about the possibility that the crash was recorded on a bystander's helmet camera that have intrigued both the Park City jury -- and online viewers who've tuned into live footage of the movie star's trial.
Herath testified Friday that she didn't know whether footage existed and said her email referred to an earlier phone conversation in which her father told her he assumed there must be footage of the collision from someone on the crowded run with a GoPro. The camera is a common accessory for skiers at resorts like Deer Valley.
While Sanderson's attorneys have focused on their client's deteriorating health, Paltrow's legal team has intrigued the jury with recurring questions about the mysterious, missing GoPro footage. No video footage has since been located or entered as evidence.
GoPro cameras are commonly worn by outdoor athletes including skiers to capture action sports.
The proceedings have delved deep into the 76-year-old Sanderson's medical history and personality changes, with attorneys questioning whether his deteriorating health and estranged relationships stemmed from the collision or natural process of aging.
After a judge threw out Sanderson's earlier US$3.1 million lawsuit, Sanderson then claimed damages of "more than US$300,000." Paltrow has countersued for a symbolic US$1 and attorney fees, and one of her attorneys has repeatedly waved a US$1 bill toward the jury.
Sanderson's attorneys likened the symbolic action of suing for US$1 to a 2017 countersuit filed by Taylor Swift against a radio host for the same amount in an effort to draw attention to Paltrow's celebrity. When asked whether she's friends with Swift over a parade of objections from her attorney, Paltrow said no, but that she was "friendly" with the singer.
----
Associated Press writer Anna Furman contributed reporting from Los Angeles.
Canada's special rapporteur on foreign interference David Johnston calls the allegations swirling around his objectivity 'quite simply false,' and said Tuesday he plans to push ahead with his work, launching public hearings next month
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau should see to it that mass murderers serve their entire sentences in maximum-security prison.
The number of interactions between killer whales and humans has increased alarmingly in recent years. CTVNews.ca asked an expert to explain the reasons behind the increase in interactions, explore the types of encounters, and examine the implications for both humans and killer whales.
The PGA Tour ended its expensive fight with Saudi Arabia's golf venture and now is joining forces with it, making a stunning announcement Tuesday of a merger that creates a commercial operation with the Public Investment Fund and the European tour.
While the Liberals insist a Pacific Rim trade bloc should welcome anyone who meets its standards, an internal document suggests Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wants China kept out.
The federal government has given an updated deal to a public-service union that signed its collective agreement in the fall in order to match deals reached with the Public Service Alliance of Canada during a strike this spring.
Prince Harry entered a courtroom witness box Tuesday, swearing to tell the truth in testimony against a tabloid publisher he accuses of phone hacking and other unlawful snooping.
Canada's emergency preparedness minister says images of wildfires burning across the country are some of the most severe ever witnessed in Canada and the current forecast for the next few months indicates the potential for continued higher-than-normal fire activity.
Many Canadian parents are stretching themselves thin — even going as far as to postpone their retirement in some cases — in order to help pay for their children’s education, according to a new survey.
Canada's emergency preparedness minister says images of wildfires burning across the country are some of the most severe ever witnessed in Canada and the current forecast for the next few months indicates the potential for continued higher-than-normal fire activity.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau should see to it that mass murderers serve their entire sentences in maximum-security prison.
While firefighters get more forest fires under control in northern Ontario, travel restrictions declared under an emergency order are being expanded in several communities.
Canada's special rapporteur on foreign interference David Johnston calls the allegations swirling around his objectivity 'quite simply false,' and said Tuesday he plans to push ahead with his work, launching public hearings next month
This season is on track to be the worst fire season Canada has ever seen and the risk of wildfires will remain well above average in most of the country throughout the summer, the federal government warned Monday.
Despite "anecdotal information and allegations," there is no evidence that a prescribed safe supply of opioids is being diverted and causing increased harm and death – specifically among youth, B.C.'s chief coroner said Monday.
Lawyers for Ukraine told the United Nations' top court Tuesday that Russia bankrolled a 'campaign of intimidation and terror' by rebels in eastern Ukraine starting in 2014 and sought to replace Crimea's multiethnic community with 'discriminatory Russian nationalism' after its occupation and annexation of the region.
Pope Francis briefly went to Rome's main hospital on Tuesday for tests and returned to the Vatican, two months after he was hospitalized with an acute case of bronchitis.
Poland's Supreme Court on Tuesday overturned a contentious presidential pardon of a top government official and three subordinates and ordered a retrial of their case.
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 4.9 struck southern Haiti early Tuesday, killing at least three people and injuring several others, authorities said.
Rep. George Santos' lawyer said Monday the indicted New York Republican would risk going to jail to protect the identities of the people who cosigned the US$500,000 bond enabling his pretrial release.
Canada's special rapporteur on foreign interference David Johnston calls the allegations swirling around his objectivity 'quite simply false,' and said Tuesday he plans to push ahead with his work, launching public hearings next month
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau should see to it that mass murderers serve their entire sentences in maximum-security prison.
Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne says Stellantis and LG Energy Solutions have what they need to make a decision on a proposed electric vehicle battery plant in Windsor.
The Canadian Medical Association and 14 other organizations representing health workers are urging premiers to keep health care at the top of the agenda at their next meeting in July.
One of the most notable happenings at Apple's event for developers on Monday is likely the iPhone maker's tweak that will keep its autocorrect feature from annoyingly correcting one of the most common expletives to 'ducking.'
Prince Harry testimony in a London court, both in cross-examination in the witness box and in his written witness statement, was rare and unusual. By turns defensive, frank and accusatory, his testimony shone a light on life as a royal and on Harry's bitter personal feud with the press. Here's what to know after a historic day at the High Court in London.
Actors represented by the Hollywood union SAG-AFTRA voted Monday evening to authorize a strike if they don't agree on a new contract with major studios, streamers and production companies by June 30.
U.S. stocks are drifting Tuesday amid a vacuum of market-moving data, while U.S. regulators shook the cryptocurrency world again by filing charges against another mega player in the industry.
Calgary-based Cenovus Energy says it has safely restarted a portion of its production that was shut down because of the threat of wildfires in northern and central Alberta.
Those in favour of creating a federal right to repair law say the government should avoid shaping such legislation according to the wishes of special interest lobbyists as Ottawa gets set to launch consultations on the issue.
A whisky brand co-founded by actor Kiefer Sutherland says it has raised more than $100,000 for relief efforts related to the ongoing Nova Scotia wildfires.
Jessica Tuomela is a swimmer and triathlete, and has been on the podium at the Paralympics, but says the feeling returning a missing person home safely is no comparison.
Creating the perfect backdrop for the upcoming “Barbie” movie required so much pink paint that it led to a global shortage, according to its production designer.
The PGA Tour ended its expensive fight with Saudi Arabia's golf venture and now is joining forces with it, making a stunning announcement Tuesday of a merger that creates a commercial operation with the Public Investment Fund and the European tour.
Aryna Sabalenka smacked a forehand winner to reach the French Open semifinals for the first time, then strode forward. Placing both hands atop the net tape, she leaned forward and stared directly at Elina Svitolina, her Ukrainian opponent.
The selection of Son Jun-ho despite his detention in China took the focus off Premier League star Son Heung-min for once when South Korea's soccer roster was unveiled.
Ontario has committed to paying a third of the cost to save a $5-billion electric vehicle battery plant in Windsor, Ont., premier Doug Ford said Thursday.
Former Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone on Tuesday formally pleaded not guilty to a fraud charge over his alleged failure to declare millions of dollars held in a trust in Singapore to Britain's government.
The prospect of Fernando Alonso ending a decade-long wait for his 33rd Formula One win in front of tens of thousands of fans at his home race proved too good to be true on Sunday.
