London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, Oct 04, 2025

Jury in Gwyneth Paltrow ski crash trial retires to consider verdict

Jury in Gwyneth Paltrow ski crash trial retires to consider verdict

Case involving Oscar-winning actress over 2016 ski crash draws to end as closing arguments are heard
A jury in the US has begun deliberating if Gwyneth Paltrow is at fault for a ski collision in 2016 that left a man with broken ribs.

The Oscar-winning actress is accused of hitting retired optometrist Terry Sanderson on the ski slope, leaving him with several broken ribs and severe brain injuries.

She has denied the claims, alleging that Mr Sanderson crashed into her at the Deer Valley resort in Utah, and caused her to lose “half a day of skiing".

The eight-person jury will need to weigh competing versions of who was the downhill skier, making the other culpable for the crash.

In closing arguments, Paltrow's lawyers asked the jury to disregard the opposing side's emotional pleas for sympathy for Mr Sanderson.

Mr Sanderson has said the collision left him with a concussion and four broken ribs.

His counsel Robert Sykes told the jury that Paltrow’s belief was not responsible for the ski collision was sincerely held, but wrong.

“That day that Terry left his house to go skiing... he anticipated like many other days in his life a fun day of skiing, and he never returned home that night as the same Terry. He never came home, figuratively speaking,” he said.

“Terry has tried to get off that mountain but he's really still there. Part of Terry will forever be (there).”

Paltrow’s legal team said it would've been easier to simply write a check to settle the lawsuit, but this would not have been a good message for her children.

“But what would that teach her children?" her lawyer Steve Owens asked jurors.

“It's not about the money. It's about ruining a very delicate time in a relationship where they were trying to get their kids together," Mr Owens said.

The 2016 family trip to Deer Valley Resort was the first time Paltrow and her then-boyfriend Brad Falchuk brought their kids together in an effort to join families, he said.

In closing arguments, Mr Sanderson’s attorneys estimated damages as more than $3.2 million (£2.58m).

Paltrow has countersued for a symbolic $1 and attorney fees, though her attorneys said in closing arguments that the crash had damaged her far more.

Mr Sanderson's attorneys have cast doubt on Paltrow's testimony and underscored the injuries that their client, Mr Sanderson, has said changed the course of his life.

In a packed courtroom, they argued it was unlikely that someone could ski between another skier's two legs as Paltrow claimed.

They also noted that she didn't deny watching her kids skiing the moment of the crash, and pointed to a witness who claimed he saw Paltrow crash into the 76-year-old.

But the Oscar-winning actress’s lawyers argued that the actress didn't cause the accident and that its effects aren't as bad as Mr Sanderson claims.

They have suggested that he is pursuing the claim in part because of Paltrow’s fame.

Paltrow earlier told the jury she initially thought she was being “violated" when the collision began.

Three days later Mr Sanderson gave an entirely different account, saying she ran into him and sent him “absolutely flying."

Throughout the trial jurors have also heard from a variety of medical experts, ski instructors, and members of both Mr Sanderson’s and Ms Paltrow’s families, including the actress’s children, Apple and Moses Martin.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
×