The Gwyneth Paltrow Ski Slope Experience in Utah continues through week two

News

by Stephanie Bagons

March 26, 2023 | 1:31 p.m

The trial over the Gwyneth Paltrow ski slope disaster in Utah has concluded its first week with testimony from a lifestyle expert that she believed she was sexually assaulted during a 2016 meet.

Dr. Terry Sanderson claims that a “negligent collision” with Paltrow seven years ago at an upscale Deer Valley resort in Utah left him with brain damage.

Sanderson sued the Goop founder, and the influencer responded with a “token” $1 suit.

Paltrow and Sanderson’s loved ones were called to testify in a Park City courtroom.

Sanderson, who previously attempted to sue Paltrow for more than $3 million, is expected to take the stand Monday.

Paltrow’s children with ex-husband Chris Martin — Apple Martin, 18, and Moses Martin, 16, are scheduled to testify in the coming days.

Her current husband, Brad Falchuk, is also expected to be called out.

The trial made headlines covering topics ranging from the star’s outfits to media attention to emails from Sanderson claiming he was “famous.”

Here are the top five moments in the trial so far.

Paltrow stands up and claims fear of sexual assault

The 50-year-old actress defiantly stood out on Friday wearing a black outfit with her long hair down.

“Mr. Sanderson hit me, and he was at fault,” she said.

Paltrow was skating with her kids, who were ages 11 and 9 at the time, and Falchuk—then her new boyfriend—and his kids.

She testified that she was skating with a coach who told her after the accident that he would share Paltrow’s information with Sanderson.

Paltrow said she left the scene of the accident to be reunited with her children.

Paltrow then described how she was afraid someone would try to sexually assault her because someone had bumped into her and he was “groaning and hissing in a very unpleasant way”.

She told the court, “I was skiing and two skis came in between my skis, causing my legs to separate, and then there was a body pressing against me.” “And there was a very strange noise. So, my brain was trying to make sense of what was going on.”

She continued, “My mind was going really, really fast, and I was trying to ascertain what was going on.” She later added, “Our bodies were almost falling apart. And I quickly walked away.”

Sanderson: I’m famous

Paltrow’s attorney revealed in his opening statement Tuesday that Sanderson, 76, sent an email to his daughters shortly after the incident and wrote, “I’m famous.”

Sanderson, a 76-year-old retired ophthalmologist from Salt Lake City, said he suffered broken ribs and a concussion that permanently damaged his brain.

He allegedly sent the email hours after the accident, to which one of his daughters responded that she didn’t believe the collision “was detected on a GoPro,” Paltrow’s attorney Steve Owens told the court.

The GoPro footage is now missing, Owens said.

Camera complaints

On Wednesday, Owens captured the media audience covering Paltrow with cameras sometimes “in her face.”

The lawyer pointed to the camera in the courtroom on Wednesday, complaining about “a new camera pointed directly at my client.”

“This was a problem when, for example, the journalists were in front of my client’s car, and they came out yesterday. Cameras in her face,” he continued.

The judge ruled that the cameras must remain pointed at the person speaking.

Tears in court

His daughters testified that Sanderson became an “angry person” after the incident, and his behavioral changes affected his relationships with loved ones, including his granddaughter.

Shee Sanderson Herath, his 52-year-old daughter, tearfully described how her father went from someone who “has a zest for life” to someone who is “very insecure” and “doesn’t trust his own brain anymore.”

Herat went on to describe how her father’s behavior had changed her relationship with her daughter, Sanderson’s granddaughter.

She said, “She doesn’t like my father.” “She doesn’t like him.”

Lawyer apologizes for being a ‘donkey’

Owens apologized on the third day of the trial for a tense moment earlier in the trial, when he asked Sanderson’s daughter if she thought her sister was a liar.

Polly Sanderson Grasham, one of the Sanderson daughters, was on the stand when Owen repeatedly questioned her about her sisters’ allegations that their father was abusive.

Grasham stopped calling her father abusive and instead, Sanderson said, “relentlessly tried to shape up” her sister, Jenny. Jenny was initially expected to testify but eventually refused.

Owen then asked if Grasham thought Jenny was a liar, to which the woman replied, “Sometimes we experience events differently.”

The lawyer returned after the lunch break and acknowledged the brief questioning.

He said, “I want to apologize, I was ass earlier.” “It was wrong of me to make you, your father, your sister, and your mother third. I ask for your forgiveness.”

With Elizabeth Rosner and Ben Kessler