Remember Gwyneth Paltrow’s ski trial? That was back in 2023 – a man sued Gwyneth, claiming that she bumped into him on a Park City ski trail and that bump left him severely injured. Instead of throwing money at the problem and settling with the guy out of court, Gwyneth was like “let’s do this,” and she countersued him and made him go to court with his accusations. His case fell apart and she won a symbolic $1 plus her legal fees. Well, Gwyneth was recently on another podcast and she was asked about the whole ski-trial experience.
Gwyneth Paltrow is reflecting on her “ridiculous” ski accident trial from two years ago.
“I have to say, the idea that someone could ski into your back and knock you down and then sue you,” Paltrow, 52, told hosts Erin and Sara Foster on the April 24 episode of The World’s First Podcast, “I was like, ‘This is everything that’s wrong with our legal system.’”
The Oscar winner went to trial over a 2016 collision on a Utah mountain involving Terry Sanderson, who sued Paltrow for $3.1 million, claiming she skied into him in a hit-and-run. Denying all wrongdoing, the actress countersued for a symbolic one dollar plus legal fees. In March 2023, a Park City jury found that it was Sanderson who was at 100% fault, ruling in Paltrow’s favor after less than three hours of deliberations.
The World’s First Podcast hosts brought up the civil case in reference to the outfits Paltrow wore throughout the 2023 trial, saying “the best thing” about watching it was “the internal eye roll the whole time at the fact that you were there at all.”
“It was ridiculous,” agreed the Goop founder. “That’s why I felt like I had to fight it. I was like, ‘I’m not going to be shaken down here.’ I’m not doing that.”
Immediately following the verdict, Paltrow could be seen whispering to Sanderson in the courtroom. “I wish you well,” the retired optometrist recounted her saying as he talked to reporters outside, per the Associated Press. He told Extra that the Avengers star’s words were “very kind of her.”
Elsewhere in her World’s First Podcast interview, Paltrow reflected on unlearning jealousy with the help of her mother Blythe Danner, feeling JOMO (or “the joy of missing out”) and which public beliefs about her aren’t true. “I heard a rumor the other day, or I saw on Instagram,” she noted, “that I’m the most arrogant person in Hollywood. I don’t think that’s true.”
Is Gwyneth the most arrogant person in Hollywood? No. She’s not. She’s absolutely arrogant, but she’s not the most arrogant person. Not while George Clooney exists. Not while David Zaslav exists. Not while dozens of studio executives exist. As for her ski trial… I don’t know what to say here. I wasn’t “yes queening” Gwyneth during the trial because I was actually following the ins and outs of the case. I thought it was cool that Gwyneth countersued and actually went to court and drew that line in the sand from a legal perspective. Her court fashion wasn’t even that interesting, it’s just that people were shocked that she turned up every day in court.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid.
