Gwyneth Paltrow has been accused of “dangerous” and “reckless” skiing as she appeared in a US court over claims she seriously injured a man in a “hit-and-run” ski crash in 2016.
The Hollywood star allegedly skied “out of control” during a family holiday and hit retired optometrist Terry Sanderson at Deer Valley Resort in Utah.
The lawsuit claimed Paltrow crashed into him, “knocking him down hard, knocking him out, and causing a brain injury, four broken ribs and other serious injuries”.
“Paltrow got up, turned and skied away, leaving Sanderson stunned, lying in the snow, seriously injured,” Mr Sanderson’s lawyers claim.
Paltrow has alleged that Mr Sanderson is actually the culprit in the collision, and has been overstating his injuries.
The US actress, also the founder and CEO of the wellness company goop, sat in court wearing a high-necked cream jumper and brown trousers as opening statements in the case began in the Utah ski town of Park City.
Lawrence Buhler, representing Mr Sanderson, told jurors that Paltrow’s behaviour on the mountain in 2016 had been “reckless”.
Mr Buhler accused Paltrow of not looking where she was going, arguing she “knew that looking up the mountain and to the side while skiing down the mountain was dangerous”.
“She knew skiing that way, looking somewhere else, blindly skiing down a mountain by looking up and to the side was reckless.”
He accused her of a “conscious disregard for other people on the mountain” which “combined together” with her “neglect” and “choices” caused Mr Sanderson to suffer “four broken ribs and permanent brain damage”.
Mr Sanderson first sued Paltrow in 2019, seeking $3.1m (£2.5m) in damages.
He is now seeking $300,000 (£245,000) after that claim was dropped.
The original 2019 claim stated that after hitting him, “Paltrow got up, turned and skied away, leaving Sanderson stunned, lying in the snow, seriously injured”.
It also said a Deer Valley ski instructor who had been training Paltrow saw Mr Sanderson had been injured but made no attempt to help him.
The instructor did not send for help and later accused Mr Sanderson of having caused the crash in a “false report to protect his client”, the claim said.
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The actress countersued for a symbolic $1, saying it was Mr Sanderson who had caused the crash and delivered a full “body blow”.
Paltrow’s claim said she was shaken by the collision and stopped skiing with her family for the day.
It added that Mr Sanderson apologised to her and said he was fine.
The trial is scheduled to last for eight days.
