IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser.

Gwyneth Paltrow's ski collision trial: What to know

The actor and Goop founder is accused of injuring another skier at a resort in Park City, Utah, in 2016.
/ Source: TODAY

Gwyneth Paltrow is facing trial in a civil lawsuit alleging she crashed into another skiier at a Park City, Utah, ski resort in 2016, causing serious injuries to Terry Sanderson, a now 76-year-old retiree, and leaving him "stunned" in the snow.

Paltrow and Sanderson both dispute who collided into whom and who was farther up the hill at the time of the crash, with Paltrow alleging in a counterclaim Sanderson “plowed into” her from behind.

Paltrow denies being at fault in the Feb. 26, 2016, accident, with a court filing saying Sanderson's suit was an “attempt to exploit her celebrity and wealth.”

At a news conference in 2019, per the Salt Lake City Tribune, Sanderson’s attorneys, Lawrence D. Buhler and Robert B. Sykes, brought up a Summit County ordinance prohibiting “reckless skiing” that says “any skier involved in a collision that results in an injury” must stop, render assistance, notify ski area employees and give their name and address “before leaving the ski area.” Sykes said the law “even applies to celebrities.”

Sanderson is suing for $300,000 in damages, and Paltrow is countersuing for $1. Here's what to know about the case.

Gwyneth Paltrow
Actor Gwyneth Paltrow looks on before leaving the courtroom, Tuesday, March 21, 2023, in Park City, Utah. Rick Bowmer / AP

Why is Paltrow being sued?

Sanderson, a retired optometrist, is suing Paltrow over an incident that occurred at the Deer Valley Ski Resort near Salt Lake City, Utah, on Feb. 26, 2016.

Sanderson alleges the actor and Goop founder “skied out of control” and hit him in the back on beginner's slopes, “knocking him down hard, knocking him out, and causing a brain injury, four broken ribs and other serious injuries,” according to court documents.

Sanderson initially sued Paltrow for $3.1 million in 2019, but a judge later ruled he could only sue for $300,000 in damages.

Gwyneth Paltrow
Gwyneth Paltrow exiting the courtroom.Rick Bowmer / AP

Lawrence Buhler, Sanderson’s attorney, said in his opening statement on March 21 that Paltrow crashed into his client because she was not looking in front of her and instead was looking at her children.

Buhler said the sole eyewitness of the crash, Craig Ramon, was in a group skiing with Sanderson and was about 35 feet uphill at the time of the crash. Ramon testified in court on March 21 and described himself as an acquaintance of Sanderson's.

“We were skiing down the run and I heard this, this scream and I looked over and about one or two seconds ... I hear this scream and I see this skier slam into the back of Terry,” Ramon said.

He said Paltrow hit Sanderson "hard" and bounced off of him, before leaving the scene about three to four minutes after the collision.

Ramon said Sanderson was "out of it" and complaining about his ribs, and that he eventually flagged a member of the resort’s ski patrol. Staffers then took Sanderson to a first aid station on a sled, he said.

What is Paltrow suing for?

Gwyneth Paltrow
Gwyneth Paltrow in court.Rick Bowmer / AP

Paltrow, 56, has denied Sanderson's allegations. She argued in a counterclaim filed against Sanderson that he was the one who crashed into her on the slopes, causing her to sustain a “full ‘body blow.’”

She called the lawsuit “an attempt to exploit her celebrity and wealth” and is seeking “only symbolic damages in the amount of $1,” plus costs and attorneys’ fees, according to the counterclaim.

Stephen Owens, Paltrow’s attorney, disputed Ramon's account of the incident in his opening statement on March 21. Owens alleged Sanderson crashed into Paltrow from behind when he was attempting to avoid hitting another skier.

Owens told jurors Sanderson allegedly apologized to Paltrow and said to others on the scene he wasn't sure what happened. He said Paltrow stayed on the scene until ski patrol came by and said he was OK.

Sanderson's complaint said that “Paltrow got up, turned and skied away, leaving Sanderson stunned, lying in the snow, seriously injured.”

When will the trial end?

The trial began on March 21 and is expected to continue for eight days. Paltrow has sat in the courtroom each day of the trial, and testimony is expected from medical professionals, Paltrow's two children and Paltrow herself.

Is the trial available to watch?

The trial is streaming on YouTube channels, including Court TV and Law & Crime.