While taking stand at Park City Court, Utah, the 50-year-old Goop founder insists she's not responsible for the 2016 collision with retired optometrist Dr Terry Sanderson at Deer Park Resort.
- Mar 25, 2023
AceShowbiz - Gwyneth Paltrow yelled at her alleged ski crash victim, "You skied directly into my f***king back!" She additionally claimed she initially thought he was a "perverted" man assaulting her as she took the stand on Friday, March 24, at Park City Court, Utah.
The 50-year-old Goop founder admitted her outburst and molestation fear during the trial. She insisted she was not responsible for the 2016 collision at Deer Park Resort in the state that retired optometrist Dr Terry Sanderson, 76, says left him with permanent brain damage.
Gwyneth started her testimony by telling attorney Kristin van Orman eyewitness Craig Ramon's account of the accident was questionable, saying, "He said he was 40ft away and color blind - I don't know how he could have seen what he thinks he saw. And I can tell you that he didn't because Mr Sanderson categorically hit me and that is the truth."
Admitting she did not think about former army medic Dr Sanderson following their collision on the slopes, "When you're the victim of a crash, your psychology is not thinking about the person who perpetrated it. At the time, I did not know he had sustained injuries like that - I thought it was minor on the day."
She also insisted skiing instructor Eric Christiansen had given her contact details to Dr Sanderson as part of her denial of the retired medic's claim she fled the scene of the accident. Gwyneth also said she heard the doctor making a "groaning noise" as they crashed into one another that left her thinking she was being assaulted by a "perverted" skier.
She added, "He was making some strange noises that sounded male and he was large so I assumed he was a male. I was confused at first because it's a very strange thing to happen on a ski slope. I got very upset a few seconds later. There was a body pressing against me and he was making a groaning noise. I didn't know, is this a practical joke or is someone doing something perverted?"
The actress soon realised the crash was nothing to do with a sexual assault and she also denied on the stand she had been watching son Moses, now 16, ski at the time of the crash. Mum-of-two Gwyneth – whose children Apple and Moses were 11 and 9 respectively at the time of the ski accident – had faced the accusation she had been distracted on the slopes by one of her children yelling, "Mommy, Mommy watch me ski," before the crash.
The actress added, "I can still watch my children ski and be skied directly into my back by someone and that's what happened. My daughter (Apple) was down the hill and my son was to my left, I was skiing and my eyes were not just on Moses."
She also said she yelled at Sanderson, "You skied directly into my f****** back!". The actress alleged Dr Sanderson mumbled back, "Oh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry". Gwyneth – worth an estimated $260 million - is countersuing Dr Sanderson, who wants $300,000 in compensation for his apparent brain damage after the collision, and says she wants a token $1 in compensation, plus her legal fees covered.
