How Gwyneth Paltrow Really Feels About That "Weird" Ski Crash Trial 6 Months After Victory

Gwyneth Paltrow is reflecting on her headline-making ski crash trial.

In March, a jury in Utah found the Oscar winner not at fault for injuries sustained by the retired optometrist Terry Sanderson, who sued over an alleged collision on a beginner-level slope at Deer Valley Resort in 2016. As part of her legal victory, Paltrow—who countersued Sanderson, claiming that he was the one who caused the accident—was awarded $1 in damages and legal fees.

And looking back nearly six months later, the 51-year-old described the courtroom saga, which captivated the nation, as a "pretty intense experience."

"That whole thing was pretty weird," Paltrow told the New York Times in an interview published Sept. 30. "I don't know that I've even processed it. It was something I felt like I survived."

The Goop founder added, "Sometimes in my life it takes me a long time to look back and process something and understand something."

The legal battle first started began in January 2019, when Sanderson filed a lawsuit against Paltrow and accused her of crashing into him on the ski slope—an accident that he said cause him to sustain "a brain injury, four broken ribs and other injuries." A month after Sanderson's filing, Paltrow countersued Sanderson, accusing him of taking legal action "in an attempt to exploit her celebrity and wealth" in her filing. 

Their two-week trial, which saw both parties take the stand and testify, ended after the jury found that Sanderson was "100 percent" at fault for the crash.

 

"I felt that acquiescing to a false claim compromised my integrity," Paltrow said in a statement to E! News following the verdict. "I am pleased with the outcome and I appreciate all of the hard work of Judge Holmberg and the jury, and thank them for their thoughtfulness in handling this case."

Her attorney, Steve Owens, added in a statement of his own, "We are pleased with this unanimous outcome and appreciate the judge and jury's thoughtful handling of the case. Gwyneth has a history of advocating for what she believes in—this situation was no different and she will continue to stand up for what is right."

For his part, Sanderson was disappointed by how the legal proceedings picked apart his life on a national stage. "I'd rethink about how I'd like to be characterized," he told the press outside of the courtroom March 30. "I thought it would be about a ski accident that I knew I had the truth, the absolute facts, and it wasn't about that. It turned out it was about the narrative about the life I've lived."

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