Jury Sides With Gwyneth Paltrow

Verdict ends legal battle over skiing collision
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Mar 30, 2023 6:08 PM CDT
Jury Decides Gwyneth Paltrow Wasn't to Blame
Terry Sanderson, the Utah man suing Gwyneth Paltrow, walks into the courtroom Thursday in Park City, Utah.   (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, Pool)

Gwyneth Paltrow has won her court battle over a 2016 ski collision at a posh Utah ski resort after a jury decided that the actor wasn't at fault for the crash. The verdict was announced Thursday in a packed courtroom in Park City, Utah. The complaint was brought by a retired optometrist, Terry Sanderson, who sued Paltrow over injuries he sustained when the two crashed on a beginner run at Deer Valley ski resort. The decision followed eight days of livestreamed courtroom testimony that drew worldwide audiences and became a pop culture fixation.

The jury's verdict marks a painful court defeat for Sanderson, who sought more than $300,000 as compensation for his injuries. Both parties blamed the other for the collision. Sanderson, 76, broke four ribs and sustained a concussion after the two tumbled down the slope, with Paltrow landing on top of him. He filed an amended complaint after an earlier $3.1 million lawsuit was dismissed. Paltrow in response countersued for $1 and attorney fees, a symbolic action that mirrors Taylor Swift's response to a radio host's defamation lawsuit; Swift was awarded $1 in 2017. Paltrow's lawyers tried to paint Sanderson as an angry, aging, and unsympathetic man who had over the years become "obsessed" with his lawsuit against Paltrow. They argued that Paltrow wasn't at fault and that, regardless of blame, Sanderson was overstating the extent of his injuries. (More Gwyneth Paltrow stories.)

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