Hollywood star and Goop CEO Gwyneth Paltrow took the stand Friday in a contentious trial over a 2016 ski-slope crash that a retired optometrist says left him permanently brain-damaged.
Dressed all in 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.
Almost immediately upon taking the stand, Paltrow told the court: “I was hit by Mr. Sanderson and he was at fault.”
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 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.
The Hollywood heavyweight countersued Sanderson but is only seeking $1 and legal feels from him.
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 some time next week.
The kids were on the slopes with their mom on Feb. 26, 2016, when the crash occurred, but didn’t see it actually happen.
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 it’s had on him.