Gwyneth Paltrow reflects on winning a ‘weird’ ski crash test in Utah: ‘I felt like I survived’

Gwyneth Paltrow opened up about the lawsuit filed against her by retired optometrist Terry Sanderson, who claimed she recklessly crashed into him at the Deer Valley resort in 2016.

Seven months after winning the lawsuit and being cleared of any wrongdoing, the 51-year-old Oscar winner called the much-discussed trial “pretty weird.”

“I don’t know if I’ve even processed it. It was something I felt like I survived,” the mother of two said The New York Times.

She continued, “Sometimes in my life it takes me a long time to look back and process something and understand something.”

In March, jurors found that Sanderson, 76, was “100 percent” responsible for the crash at the posh Utah ski resort seven years ago.

The decision comes after eight days of live-streamed courtroom testimony, which attracted a global audience and became a pop culture fixation.

Following her legal victory, Paltrow’s attorney read a statement from the actress outside the courthouse.

Stephen Owens, representing the actress, said: “We are pleased with the outcome and appreciate the judge and jury’s consideration.

“Gwyneth has a history of standing up for what’s right, and this situation is no different. She will continue to stand up for what is right.”

A statement was released by its representatives.

“I felt that admitting to a false claim compromised my integrity,” Paltrow said.

“I am pleased with the outcome and appreciate all the hard work of Judge Holmberg and the jury, and thank them for their thoughtfulness in handling this case.”

Meanwhile, a deflated Sanderson said he stands by his version of events despite losing the case.

When asked what he plans to do next, he joked, “Maybe Disneyland!”

Paltrow’s attorneys describe the complaint against her as “complete BS” and portray the Goop founder-CEO as uniquely vulnerable to unfair, frivolous lawsuits because of her celebrity.

In his closing arguments, Ms. Paltrow’s lawyer, Stephen Owens, said Ms. Paltrow had been “beaten like a punching bag” during the trial over the past two weeks.

Mr Owens said: ‘It’s not nice when someone calls a press conference and like King Kong says you knocked him out and ran and skied away. That’s not what happened.’

“He hit her, he hurt her and he wants $3 million for it. That’s not fair.

“The easy thing for my client would have been to write a check and be done with it, but what does that say to her children?” (They are) operating costs? No, it’s wrong that he hurt her and he wants money from her and that’s why we’re here.”

‘It’s not about the money, it’s about ruining a very delicate time in a relationship when they’re trying to get their children together. Terry Sanderson cost her that.”

Paltrow took the witness stand during the trial to insist the collision was not her fault, and to describe how she was stunned when she felt “a body pressing against me and a very strange grunting noise.”

While father-of-three Sanderson said the actress skied into him while letting out what he described as “the best hysterical scream you’ve ever heard,” Paltrow said he bumped into her, leaving her dead for half a day lost skiing.

Sanderson filed for damages in January 2019, initially for $3.1 million. The amount was reduced by a judge to $300,000 as compensation for the injuries he suffered.

Paltrow then filed a countersuit asking for a token $1 and for her legal fees to be covered.

Sanderson’s lawyers tried to portray their client as someone who was lively and active before the accident but changed significantly afterward.

He claims she hit him in the back with such force that he was left with “permanent traumatic brain injury, four broken ribs, pain, suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, emotional distress and disfigurement.”

Sanderson told the court: ‘I remember everything was great and then I heard something I’ve never heard at a ski resort, and that was a blood-curdling scream.

“And then, boom, it was like someone had lost control and was going to crash into a tree and die. That’s what I (remembered) until I got hit.”

“I was hit so hard in the back… right on my shoulder blades, and the fists and the sticks were right there at the bottom of my shoulder blades, a serious, serious blow,” he added. ‘Never been hit so hard before.’

In his complaint, Sanderson argued that Paltrow “got up, turned around and skied away” without calling for help, leaving him “stunned, lying in the snow, seriously injured.”

Paltrow and her team said their ski instructor was on scene and assisted Sanderson.

Paltrow’s team argued that Sanderson’s decline, while very sad, was unrelated to the accident and pointed to previous medical problems.

They also highlighted that Sanderson’s daughter Jenny said her relationship with her father was problematic for years.

And they repeatedly noted that Sanderson had sent his daughters an email saying, “I’m famous.”

A global audience followed the celebrity trial as if it were episodic television. Viewers scrutinized both Paltrow and Sanderson’s motives, as attorneys asked questions of witnesses that often had less to do with the collision and more to do with their client’s reputation.

The trial took place in Park City, a beach town known for the annual Sundance Film Festival, where Paltrow would appear early in her career for the premieres of her films, including 1998’s “Sliding Doors,” at a time when she was best known stood as an actor, not a lifestyle influencer.

Paltrow is also known for her roles in Shakespeare in Love and the Iron Man films.