The Goop founder reportedly feels 'icky' about her legal battle over 2016 ski accident and reluctant to get her children to take the stand in front of judge.
- Mar 26, 2023
AceShowbiz - Gwyneth Paltrow is left feeling uncomfortable and stressed out by her ski accident trial. The 50-year-old actress and wellness entrepreneur has been showing up at Park City Court, Utah, this week for the civil trial brought against her by retired optometrist Dr. Terry Sanderson, who claims she was responsible for a 2016 ski collision at Deer Park Resort that he alleges left him with permanent brain damage.
"Any involvement in a trial is stressful. Gwyneth has felt icky about it. For her, the situation is even worse since the trial is streamed and she has a camera in her face every day. It's a very uncomfortable situation. It's very stressful," a source told PEOPLE.
Gwyneth's daughter Apple, now 18, and son Moses, now 16, along with her husband Brad Falchuk, are expected to testify during the trial but Gwyneth is not happy that her kids are involved. The insider said, "She isn't happy that her children are involved either."
"This really has nothing to do with them. They were minors when the accident happened. [Paltrow] isn't really speculating about what the outcome of the trial will be. This is not her focus. She just wants it to be over."
When she took to the stand at the trial this week, Gwyneth alleged Dr. Sanderson was responsible for the crash. She said, "Mr. Sanderson categorically hit me and that is the truth."
Admitting she did not think about former army medic Dr. Sanderson following their collision on the slopes, she said, "When you're the victim of a crash, your psychology is not thinking about the person who perpetrated it. At the time, I did not know he had sustained injuries like that - I thought it was minor on the day."
She also insisted skiing instructor Eric Christiansen had given her contact details to Dr. Sanderson as part of her denial of the retired medic's claim she fled the scene of the accident. Gwyneth said she heard the doctor making a "groaning noise" as they crashed into one another that left her thinking she was being assaulted by a "perverted" skier.
She added, "He was making some strange noises that sounded male and he was large so I assumed he was a male. I was confused at first because it's a very strange thing to happen on a ski slope. I got very upset a few seconds later. There was a body pressing against me and he was making a groaning noise. I didn't know, is this a practical joke or is someone doing something perverted?"
The actress soon saw the crash was nothing to do with a sexual assault and she also denied on the stand she had been watching Moses ski at the time of the crash. Gwyneth - worth an estimated $260 million - is countersuing Dr. Sanderson, who wants $300,000 in compensation for his apparent brain damage after the collision, and says she wants a token $1 in compensation, plus her legal fees covered.
