Actress Gwyneth Paltrow is heading to court to answer a civil lawsuit brought against her by a man who claims she injured him in a ski hit-and-run seven years ago.
Paltrow claims she was hit from behind by another skier suffering minor injuries, whereas Terry Sanderson (76) a retired optometrist, claims that it was Paltrow who slammed into him in a “full body hit” as she skied the slopes of Park City, Utah.
He says the movie star and Goop CEO crashed into him 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,” according to Law & Crime.
The trial will decide who is responsible for the damages which began at $3.1m but since lowered to a $300,000 claim against Paltrow. She is seeking a single dollar in damages and for her legal fees to be covered.
The trial begins tomorrow
Mr Sanderson is arguing that Ms Paltrow is essentially guilty of the ski version of a hit and run. In his complaint filed in 2019, he alleges that after the collision, she “got up, turned and skied away, leaving Sanderson stunned, lying in the snow, seriously injured”.
“A Deer Valley ski instructor, who had been training Ms. Paltrow, but who did not see the crash, skied over, saw the injured Sanderson and skied off, falsely accusing Sanderson of having caused the crash,” the complaint states.
Ms Paltrow on the other hand, claims that her instructor did in fact witness the collision.
The rule of the hills in Utah is that those ahead of you have the right of way and that those coming from behind have to avoid others. Both Mr Sanderson and Ms Paltrow claim that they were lower down on the mountain.
Paltrow recently faced backlash over her now-viral wellness routine and daily diet which she laid out in a recent podcast with her doctor. She countered it was not a diet she was recommending to other people.
