Gwyneth Paltrow trial – live: Actor testifies she thought skiing accident was ‘sexual assault’

Shae Sanderson accuses Gwyneth Paltrow of ‘ignoring’ her father in mountain ski crash

Gwyneth Paltrow’s lawyer apologised for being an “ass” to the daughter of the doctor suing the actress over a 2016 ski accident.

Attorney Stephen Owens made the admission after his cross-examination of Polly Sanderson Grasham, who had testified as a witness for her father, Terry Sanderson.

He claims Paltrow slammed into him in a “full body hit” leaving him with “permanent traumatic brain injury, four broken ribs, pain, suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, emotional distress and disfigurement”.

Mr Sanderson is seeking $300,000 in damages from the Oscar winner after alleging that her was left with permanent brain damage following the accident at the Deer Valley resort in Utah.

Mr Owens and Ms Sanderson Grasham had been involved in a tense questioning after she testified that her father had become angry and short-tempered after the accident.

Gwyneth Paltrow colliding with a man from behind on a ski slope and falling on top of him is the “only scenario” that would explain his injuries, a US court has heard.

Terry Sanderson provided “a cushion” for the Oscar-winning actress during the incident at the Deer Valley resort in Utah in 2016, jurors were told.

The retired optometrist is suing Ms Paltrow over the crash, in which he suffered several broken ribs and a severe concussion.

Ms Paltrow has denied the claim and is counter-suing Mr Sanderson, alleging it was him that caused the collision.

On Thursday jurors heard testimony from Dr Richard Boehne, who said Mr Sanderson’s injuries could only have been caused by being struck from behind.

“He was hit by someone from the side and from behind, bear in mind that person landed on him. People who fall don’t get rib fractures… it takes something else,” he said.

“If you had a choice between Mr Sanderson hitting Ms Paltrow or Ms Paltrow hitting Mr Sanderson, you would have to pick Ms Paltrow hitting Mr Sanderson from behind and falling on top of him to account for the rib fractures.”

“If you were to compare two scenarios… there’s only one scenario that would account for enough force application to fracture those ribs and that would be Ms Paltrow striking Mr Sanderson from behind and falling to the ground.

“In essence he was like a cushion, if you will.”

Actor Gwyneth Paltrow’s day on the slopes in Park City, Utah was cut short seven years ago when she had to take some time to rest after she collided with another person coming down the hill.

She’s now taking part in a civil trial that began on Tuesday (21 March).

As she was climbing the hill on 26 February 2016, another skier slammed into her from behind. She suffered minor injuries, for which she says the man apologized immediately. She adds in her legal filing that she was “shaken and upset”

A retired optometrist claims he was skiing with friends when he heard ‘hysterical screaming like … King Kong in the jungle or something’. Gustaf Kilander reports

Hollywood star has been sued for $300,000 by a retired doctor following a 2016 crash on the lopes of Deer Valley, Utah.

Hollywood star has been sued for $300,000 by retired doctor following 2016 crash

Ms Paltrow says in her filing that Mr Sanderson’s injuries are exaggerated because an examination was conducted with his doctor, which didn’t reveal anything lacking in his cognitive functioning, the claim says.

The movie star’s filing states that medical records show that he was diagnosed with a “mild” concussion and that he has spent “extended periods of time” on vacation abroad following the crash.

A general view during the Dual Moguls Preliminary Rounds on day three of the Intermountain Healthcare Freestyle International Ski World Cup at Deer Valley Resort on February 04, 2023 in Park City, Utah

The counterclaim also alleges that Mr Sanderson had 15 chronic medical problems and that he had told his physician a year previously that he was blind in his right eye, and that the vision in his left eye was getting worse.

“She did not knock him down or cause him to suffer a concussion, brain injury, or broken ribs,” Ms Paltrow’s filing states.

Gwyneth Paltrow questioned over friendship with Taylor Swift in ski accident trial

Mr Sanderson alleges that Ms Paltrow was coming down the beginner slope of Bandana Run on Flagstaff mountain in an “out-of-control” manner, according to Court TV.

He claims that she struck him so hard that he was knocked out. At a press conference in 2019, he said that moments before the collision, he “heard this just hysterical screaming like … King Kong in the jungle or something”.

Terry Sanderson during a press conference in 2019

He said at the time that he thought the speed at which Ms Paltrow was allegedly coming at him could explain the extent of his injuries. “A little bitty bullet can make a big hole,” he said, according to The Salt Lake Tribune.

At that press conference announcing the lawsuit, Mr Sanderson said he noticed a number of large “slow down” signs as he headed down Bandana run, so he slowed down but still stayed with the flow of other skiers coming down the slope.

“It was just instantaneous,” he said in 2019. “I got hit in my back. ... It felt like it had just drove me forward.”

He said he could remember not being able to control himself as he went down.

“And then that’s all I remember to that point — just out,” he said.

‘I would not say we are good friends, we are friendly,’ Paltrow testified.

‘I would not say we are good friends, we are friendly,’ Paltrow testified