American actress Gwyneth Paltrow assured a US court on Friday that she was not responsible for the ski accident which earned her to be sued. “Terry Sanderson, a retired optician, accuses the star of having injured him in this accident seven years ago and claims to have suffered damages estimated at more than 3 million dollars.
Gwyneth Paltrow, Oscar winner in 1999 for her role in Shakespeare in Love, filed a complaint in turn. Terry Sanderson says she ran into him skiing in a “dangerous” way, causing “four broken ribs and permanent brain damage”, before fleeing, leaving him unconscious.
Friday, for the fourth day of this lawsuit in Utah, the actress denied any responsibility, saying that on the contrary, Terry Sanderson had “clearly hit her on this ski slope”.
“A body pressed against me”
The collision took place in February 2016 in Deer Valley, an upscale Rocky Mountain resort located above Park City, a tourist town that hosts the Sundance Film Festival.
Gwyneth Paltrow also explained that she briefly feared that it was a sexual assault. “I was skiing and two skis appeared between my skis, spreading my legs, then a body pressed against me and I heard a very strange growl. Paltrow said she wondered if it was a “joke” or if “someone was doing evil things.”
The actress, who has built a second career as a wellness guru with her Goop brand, admitted she left the scene of the crash because her ski instructor told her she could.
Hearings will continue next week with testimony from Paltrow, Gwyneth Paltrow’s children and husband, and plaintiff Terry Sanderson.