Gwyneth Paltrow testifies in ski crash trial: ‘Is this a practical joke? Is someone doing something perverted?’

Actress Gwyneth Paltrow says that, when retired optometrist Terry Sanderson slammed into her back on the Deer Valley Resort slopes during a 2016 family outing, she thought at first that she was being sexually assaulted by a “perverted” skier.

“I was confused at first, and I didn’t know exactly what was happening,” the Goop founder testified on Friday. “It’s a very strange thing to be happening on a ski slope. I froze, and I would say I got very upset a couple seconds later.”


(Video: YouTube)

When her legs were forced apart by a pair of skis, Paltrow explained, it took her brain a few seconds to “make sense” of the situation.

“So that was a quick thought that went through my head when I was trying to reconcile what was happening,” she recalled. “Two skis came between my skis forcing my legs apart and then a body pressed against me, and there was a very strange grunting noise.”

“My brain was trying to make sense of what was happening,” she continued. “I thought, ‘Is this a practical joke? Is someone doing something perverted?’ This is really, really strange. My mind was going very, very quickly, and I was trying to ascertain what happened.”

“There was sort of a groan coming out of his mouth,” she added.

As BizPac Review previously reported, Paltrow, her husband, Brad Falchuk, and her children, Apple and Moses, now 18 and 16, respectively, were skiing on the exclusive Utah resort beginner’s run, “Bandana,” when the accident occurred, sparking seven years of legal battles.

Initially, Sanderson sought $3.1 million in damages, claiming the crash was a “hit-and-run.”  A judge denied that claim, preventing Sanderson from describing the incident in that matter. Sanderson insists Paltrow, 50, has “accepted no responsibility” for her part in the accident and is now seeking $300,000 in compensation for “permanent traumatic brain injury, four broken ribs, pain, suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, emotional distress, and disfigurement.”

Paltrow adamantly denies that the fault was hers, claiming that Sanderson has vision and hearing loss as a result of a previous stroke and caused the collision, hitting her from behind with such force that she sustained a “full body blow.”

She has filed a countersuit against Sanderson’s allegations and is seeking attorney fees.

On the stand, Paltrow said it felt as though she and Sanderson were “spooning” when they hit the snow, and she moved away from him “quickly.”

In a moment worthy of one of Paltrow’s films, the attorney for Sanderson asked the actress to step down from the stand and reenact the accident, causing all the lawyers to approach the bench.

After a lengthy huddle with the judge, the objection was sustained and the attorney decided she’d act it out herself.

“We’re not going to reenact what happened,” the judge stated. “I think you can ask questions, and if you want to stand and move around in order to help you with those questions, you can do that, but that’s as far as we’re going to go.”

Paltrow stressed that she wasn’t accusing Sanderson of sexual assault, explaining that was only “what went through [her] mind when it happened.”

According to Paltrow, the only eyewitness’s recollection of the incident is flawed.

“What he said is not what happened,” she stated.

At another point, Paltrow insisted, “Mr. Sanderson hit me.”

Falchuk, Apple, and Moses are all expected to take the stand on Monday, as is Sanderson, Fox News Digital reports. The plaintiff’s lawyers are expected to wrap up his case and rest that day.

Melissa Fine

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