Gwyneth Paltrow testified Friday that she thought she was being sexually assaulted while skiing in Utah during the contentious trial over a 2016 ski-slope crash that a retired optometrist says left him permanently brain-damaged.
Dressed in all black, Paltrow, 50, is pushing back at Dr. Terry Sanderson’s claims she negligently rammed into him on the slopes of Deer Valley Resort in Utah and permanently altered the course of his life.
“I was hit by Mr. Sanderson, and he was at fault,” Paltrow told the court almost immediately upon taking the stand.
The doctor, 76, suffered a concussion and broken ribs, and contends the long-term effects have disabled him. He is suing Paltrow for $300,000 in damages.
Paltrow has rejected his narrative — and counters it was Sanderson who caused the accident.
On the stand, she established herself as an “intermediate” skier and said she had been skiing since her childhood.
The Academy Award-winning “Shakespeare in Love” star also disputed Sanderson’s claim she did a “hit-and-run” and fled the scene following the crash.
Paltrow told jurors her ski instructor had told her that he would give Sanderson her information.
“He said, ‘You should go ski down’ because my kids were waiting for me,” she explained.
When asked by the plaintiff’s lawyer if she was aware that the rules of skiing required her to leave her name and information after a crash, Paltrow said: “I don’t think I was aware of the rule.
“I would not have left the scene without leaving my information, and my information was left,” she added.
Paltrow, who punctuated her testimony with sips of Perrier, seemed to have the court gallery rapt, and at least one juror was smiling during her testimony, despite appearing smug at times.
The actress said she thought someone might be trying to sexually assault her in the immediate aftermath of the crash.
“I was skiing and two skis came between my skis, forcing my legs apart, and then there was a body pressing against me,” she explained. “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 continued.
Sanderson was “groaning and grunting in a very disturbing way,” she said.
“Our bodies were almost spooning. And I moved away quickly,” Paltrow added.
Sanderson’s lawyer Kristin VanOrman then attempted to reenact the 2016 crash — and even tried to have both Paltrow and Sanderson help her recreate the moment the two collided, which the judge nixed.
The exchanges between Paltrow and VanOrman turned testy. After Paltrow said that “Mr. Sanderson categorically hit me on that ski slope and that is the truth,” the lawyer responded: “And I’m sure that that’s what you believe.”
“Because it’s the truth,” Paltrow hit back.
During a recess, VanOrman told the judge that Paltrow “lied under oath a number of times” during the short time she had been on the stand, eliciting a massive gasp from the actress.
“Your honor, that is slanderous, and I want it withdrawn this moment,” Paltrow’s lawyer shot back.
VanOrman apologized to Paltrow shortly after and recanted her statement.
When testimony resumed, Paltrow recounted that she was skiing down the right side of the moderately crowded “green” trail with nobody directly in front of her when suddenly Anderson hit her from behind.
The impact was not high speed, but the brunt of the crash happened when the two hit the ground about full two seconds later, she said. She said was wearing a helmet and goggles at the time.
“When we fell over my right knee had felt like it had been overstretched and my back hurt,” Paltrow testified about how she felt afterward.
Paltrow said that she never received any medical attention after the crash, but did go for a massage because her back and neck were sore.
Her attorney, Stephen Owens, revealed text messages from the day of the incident showed Paltrow text her family: “I came in. That guy sort of hurt me. I’m going to get a massage at 3..”
After the crash, Paltrow yelled profanities at Sanderson. She apologized for “cursing” on the stand Friday.
“After an incident like that when you feel hurt and violated, unfortunately, adrenaline can take over and emotion as well,” she said. The front of Sanderson’s body touched her, she said, not his arms or hands.
Paltrow denied claims that Sanderson was knocked unconscious as a result of the crash.
Her attorney also revealed a report filed by her ski instructor that day, who noted in his report that a “Male skier took her out from behind.”
“She never saw him because he came in from behind,” the report said.
VanOrman claimed that a friend of Sanderson’s reported just 10 minutes after the crash that Paltrow had crashed into Sanderson.
When asked if she felt any empathy for Sanderson, Paltrow said she does: “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.”
Paltrow countersued Sanderson but is only seeking $1 and legal fees from him, which she said was “symbolic because the damages would actually be more,” including losing a half-day of skiing.
In a bizarre moment, VanOrman asked Paltrow if she had learned about symbolically suing opponents for $1 through pop star Taylor Swift — who successfully sued a radio DJ host for $1 for groping her at a photo op — which the actress denied. VanOrman even asked Paltrow if she and Swift were good friends who exchanged personal and “intimate” Christmas gifts.
“I would not say we are good friends. We are friendly. I’ve taken our kids to our concert before.”
The eight jurors and two alternates in Utah’s Third District Court are hearing directly from Paltrow for the first time since the trial started Tuesday.
Throughout the week, she has sat in court waiting for her time to defend herself.
Paltrow was called to the stand by the doctor’s lawyer, who is expected to ask Sanderson to testify following the actress.
The two children that Paltrow shares with Coldplay singer Chris Martin — Moses, 16, and Apple, 18 — are also expected to take the stand on Monday.
The kids were on the slopes with their mom on Feb. 26, 2016, when the crash occurred, but didn’t see it actually happen.
Paltrow testified Friday that it was her and future husband Brad Falchuk’s first “significant trip” with each other’s children “to see if we could blend families.”
Sanderson’s daughter Polly Sanderson Grasham, 49, told the court on Thursday her father became an “angry person” after the crash, breaking down when talking about the devastating effect it’s had on him.
Paltrow had to awkwardly squeeze by Sanderson as she made her way out of the courtroom after recess was called on Friday. Court returns from recess at 9 a.m. on Monday.
