Gwyneth Paltrow Is Found Not Guilty in Ski Collision Trial

Gwyneth Paltrow has been found not guilty for a 2016 ski collision, a jury found Thursday.

The decision follows a two-week live-streamed trial that quickly became a pop-culture sensation, with fans obsessing over Paltrow's outfits, accessories, hair and makeup, and presence itself.

Retired optometrist Terry Sanderson filed a $300,000 lawsuit against the Shakespeare in Love star, whom he accused of skiing "out of control" when the two collided on the beginner's slopes at Deer Valley Ski Resort in Utah in 2016. At the time, the Goop founder was on a family vacation.

Meanwhile, Paltrow claimed that it was she who was hit by Anderson, and accused him of "attempt[ing] to exploit her celebrity and wealth." She opted to take the case to trial rather than settle out of court, and countersued him for a dollar, plus the cost of her legal fees.

On Thursday, Paltrow was awarded that $1 by the jury—a symbolic amount she asked for to show her stance in the trial was not about money.

In a statement when the trial began, Sanderson's lawyer Lawrence Buhler claimed that on the day of the accident, Paltrow collided with his client because she had been looking at her children, not where she was skiing during. He also claimed that she left the area three to four minutes later, while Sanderson was taken to a first aid tent by sled.

However, Paltrow's attorney Stephen Owens denied that Paltrow was involved in a skiing hit-and-run. He claimed that Sanderson apologized to the actress following the incident, and that she stayed on the scene until the ski patrol came by to help him.

Paltrow took to the witness stand on Friday, the fourth day of the trial. At one point in her testimony, she described her experience of the collision as "there was a body pressing against me and a very strange grunting noise." She also said that she and her children were taking a ski lesson when "he struck me in the back."

Several of these moments of her testimony were posted as clips on social media, including a moment where one of Sanderson's attorneys, Kristin A. VanOrman, asked Paltrow about her height, and another where the actress was asked whether she's a "good tipper."

Taylor Swift also came up at one point in Paltrow's testimony, as the pop star also asked for one dollar in symbolic damages during her legal battle against radio DJ David Mueller in 2017. When the actress was asked whether she knew of Swift's "similar symbolic damage lawsuit" when she was questioned about the connection in 2020, Paltrow said that she didn't know of Swift's suit at the time but has since been made aware.

VanOrman went on to ask whether Paltrow is good friends with Swift, which the actress answered: "I would not say that we're good friends. We are friendly. I've taken my kids to one of her concerts before, but we don't talk very often.

Paltrow also stated Friday that "Mr. Sanderson categorically hit me on that ski slope, and that is the truth," adding, "I feel very sorry for him. It seems like he's had a very difficult life, but I did not cause the accident so I cannot be at fault for anything that subsequently happened to him."

On Monday, Paltrow's children took the stand to defend her, and Thursday, the jury ruled in her favor.

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