Gwyneth Paltrow initially feared she was sexually assaulted after being hit from behind on a ski slope and said she felt legs between her legs as she and Terry Sanderson fell to the ground.
Paltrow, 50, said she yelled at the pensioner who accused her of brain-damaging him in a skiing accident: “You drove right into my f***ing back”.
The actress, who was one of the first to accuse Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment, said she is currently concerned that Terry Sanderson could be an attacker.
She said she thought, “Is someone doing something perverted?”
She added: “I tried to summarize what happened behind me.”
It quickly became clear to her that it was not a matter of sexual assault, but that someone had pushed into her from behind.
In a dramatic testimony on day four of her trial, Paltrow admitted to yelling at 76-year-old Sanderson as he lay on the ground after the crash.
She admitted she didn’t remember asking Sanderson if he was okay and left it to ski instructor Eric Christiansen to “handle” the situation for her – she continued down the slope to meet daughter Apple below hold true.
Paltrow challenged eyewitness Craig Ramon’s testimony, telling the court: “He said he was 40 feet away and color blind, I don’t know how he could have seen what he thinks he is seeing.
“And I can tell you he didn’t because Mr. Sanderson slapped me categorically, and that’s the truth.”
Gwyneth Paltrow appeared in court on Friday for the fourth day of her skiing accident trial in Utah
Sanderson claims he sustained four broken ribs and a permanent brain injury. Paltrow denies bumping into the pensioner and countered, saying he was the one who drove into her – leaving her angry and sore
She said Ramon didn’t ask her if she was okay, only Christiansen and husband Brad Falchuk inquired about her health afterwards.
She also questioned Ramon’s claim that Sanderson was unconscious for “a minute or two” after the collision.
Admitting she didn’t give Sanderson a second thought after the crash, Paltrow spent the afternoon getting a massage afterwards, saying: “When you’re a victim of a crash, your psychology doesn’t think about the person who committed it .
“At the time, I didn’t know he had suffered such injuries – I thought it was minor on the day.”
In a bizarre exchange, Paltrow told attorney Kristin van Orman that she only wears a ski suit and gets dressed to avoid being recognized, but noted, “Paparazzi have a way of sorting things out.”
She claimed instructor Eric Christiansen gave her contact details to the ailing Sanderson and that she did not leave him on the slopes.
Paltrow swung her chair while being questioned, adding, “I did not engage in risky behavior [that day].’
During her testimony, Paltrow said she heard Sanderson make a “groaning noise” as they collided and initially thought she was being attacked by someone “perverted.”
She said: “He was making some weird noises that sounded like a man and he was big so I assumed he was a man.
“At first I was confused because something like this is very strange on a ski slope. A few seconds later I got very angry.
“Then a body pressed against me and made a moaning sound. I didn’t know, is this a prank or is someone doing something kinky?’
Paltrow also attempted to deny that she had observed son Moses skiing at the time of the crash, but was brought down by testimony from Kari Oaks, her son’s instructor.
She said: “I can still watch my kids ski and get rammed right in my back by someone and that’s what happened.
“My daughter was down the hill and my son was on my left, I was skiing and my eyes weren’t just on Moses.”
She said she yelled at Sanderson, “You drove right into my f***ing back!”
Paltrow said Sanderson mumbled back, “Oh, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”
She said her son Moses’ ski instructor, Eric Christiansen, came over and helped Sanderson to his feet.
Paltrow said she has no recollection of Craig Ramon, a friend and ski mate of Sanderson’s, who testified earlier in the week that Paltrow punched Sanderson.
She said she did not see him and left the scene when the ski instructor arrived.
“When Eric, as a Deer Valley accredited ski instructor, said he would take care of the paperwork, I believed him,” she said.
When asked about Ramon, she said: “I don’t think he saw it. I don’t think he saw what he thought he saw.
“He said he was 40 feet away and color blind. I don’t know how he can be positive about what he saw given the distance.
“Mr. Sanderson beat me categorically on the ski slope.”
Sanderson’s attorney said, “You believe that.”
Paltrow replied, “Because it’s the truth.”
Paltrow was then grilled over her friendship with Taylor Swift, who was awarded a token $1 in damages in 2017 after winning her case against a Denver DJ who was accused of groping her.
She said in court: “I wouldn’t say we’re good friends. we are friendly I took my kids to her concert once, but we don’t talk very often.’
Under cross-examination, Paltrow said she felt sorry for Sanderson’s injuries but firmly believed she was not responsible for the crash.
She also spoke about her father Bruce, who died in 2002 at the age of 58, and how he taught her to ski at Alta Ski Resort in the Wasatch Mountains near Park City.
Paltrow smiled when she was reminded that witness Craig Ramon believed she went skiing with “that Coldplay guy” – she was on vacation with now-husband Brad Falchuk.
She said: “I think he was referring to my first husband Chris Martin. He is the guitarist, pianist and singer of the band Coldplay.
Gwyneth Paltrow was back in court in Utah on Friday, the fourth day of her skiing accident trial
Despite snowstorms in Park City, the A-lister arrived in a pair of $248 Rayban mirrored aviator sunglasses, which she paired with a long navy coat, navy dress and black pair of $1,200 Celine boots
Friday’s trial began with the cross-examination of Dr. Richard Boehme, who insisted the only explanation for Sanderson’s broken ribs was being hit from the left and landed by Paltrow.
dr Boehme, who drew his conclusions from a review of documents and a clinical session at Sanderson’s, said he considered an alternative — that Sanderson punched Paltrow — but he doesn’t think his injuries were caused that way could be.
He also dismissed suggestions that Sanderson was “faking” or exaggerating the extent of his injuries.
Sanderson’s legal team then called Mark Herath, a FedEx pilot and brother-in-law to his daughter Shae.
Herath said the couple had been close prior to the accident but distanced themselves thereafter due to changes in Sanderson’s personality.
He told the court he was shocked after being told the day after the accident that Paltrow had driven away after allegedly hitting Sanderson, saying: “He said he heard a scream and was hit from behind hit the snow and passed out and was taken down the mountain.
“He said Gwyneth Paltrow hit him and she left the scene – that surprised me. Because my college roommate and his mother got hit and the boy tried to escape and they chased him down the mountain. That was in Colorado.
“It’s a hit and run. It’s a serious offence. It’s something you just don’t do.’
He said Sanderson became increasingly confused after the fall and gave up skiing as a result.
Herath said: “It’s been like night and day since before and after the accident. He hasn’t skied since the accident.
“I spoke to him about skiing for the first year after the accident, but it was clear that it was a dead end. He wasn’t mentally ready to ski again.’
He added: “It’s not comfortable being with Terry like it used to be because he’s confused a lot, the paranoia, he’s worried about people. You can only take Terry in small doses now.’
Sanderson’s legal team then called Mark Herath, a FedEx pilot and brother-in-law to his daughter Shae. Herath said the couple had been close prior to the accident but distanced themselves thereafter due to changes in Sanderson’s personality
Sanderson’s daughter, Shae Herath, told jurors her father “didn’t trust his brain anymore” after the accident and the injuries he sustained.
Paltrow is accused in a court case of colliding with a Sanderson during a family ski vacation in 2016
Sanderson’s daughter, Shae Herath, later told jurors that her father “didn’t trust his brain anymore” after the accident and the injuries he sustained.
Shae, who appeared visibly nervous in the stands and spoke in a sometimes shaky voice, said: “My father has some personality issues, the injury to his brain has caused significant damage – enough to cause personality changes.
“My father is very insecure, he doesn’t show it, but he doesn’t trust his brain anymore. He used to be able to multitask and do all sorts of things and now he can’t get through it.
“As his daughter, I feel his life is trying.”
Owens had repeatedly asked Shae after her parents’ divorce, whether Sanderson had assaulted a man who was said to be having an affair with her mother, and referenced an incident involving the retiree’s second wife that had people being called out.
An incredulous Shae replied, “Are you getting your facts straight? During his questioning, Owens also noted that Sanderson once accidentally overdosed on his medication and had to be resuscitated with Narcan.
According to Owens, Sanderson referred to Paltrow as “Godzilla” and told his daughter that “Godzilla was after him” in his account of the skiing accident.
Owens then tried to portray Sanderson as an attention seeker, telling the court that his youngest daughter Jenny had described him that way, claiming the optometrist thought it was “cool” to see his name in the press and sent his daughters links for coverage in the press .
Yesterday the trial heard from another of Sanderson’s daughters, Polly Grasham, 49, who said her father was changed dramatically by the crash
Yesterday the trial heard from another of Sanderson’s daughters, Polly Grasham, 49, who said her father was changed dramatically by the crash.
Grasham said: “It’s really messy right now, it’s really hard. I think he’s in a really negative place and that’s hard for me as a daughter.
“It’s like the main clause is gone and all we have are the small details – part of the frustration is that he gets caught up in small details and the primary focus is gone.
“I have to come full circle. I think he gets frustrated and angry. Now it’s very A to B, don’t throw in a C or D. I understand that there is a lot of sadness and loss for the way his life used to work, it doesn’t work that way now.
Before the crash, Grasham said her father had a “Mensa spirit”, was good at troubleshooting and loved spending time with granddaughters Hope, 25, and Anne, 22.
‘[He was] just very fun loving, sociable, very quick with a joke and a smile.
“My father was smart. I used to describe him as a Mensa ghost. Quick to find things out.’
She said she found out about the accident on the day of the accident and knew he was receiving medical attention, but didn’t realize the extent of his injuries until he came to Idaho for Hope’s graduation in late May 2016.
Grasham said: “There was a time when he was sitting in a chair by my window and I almost expected drool to come out of his mouth.
“He hadn’t engaged with anyone and gone to a secluded corner – that was the first time I felt something was terribly wrong.”
She also said Sanderson became increasingly angry and “petty” after the crash – in contrast to his previous behavior.
Grasham said symptoms were worst in the first 18 months after the crash and have improved somewhat since, but said he still struggles with multitasking and disorientation.