Gwyneth Paltrow’s accuser recalled to a US court the moment he said the actress let out a “blood-curdling” scream before she allegedly “lost control” and smashed into him on a Utah ski slope.
Terry Sanderson, 76, is suing Paltrow for more than $300,000, claiming she skied recklessly into him from behind on a beginner ski slope, breaking four of his ribs and causing head trauma that manifested as post-concussion syndrome after the crash.
Paltrow has countersued for $1 and attorney fees, alleging Sanderson was at fault and veered into her from behind.
‘I heard something I’ve never heard at a ski resort before’
Taking to the stand for the first time since the trial began six days ago, Mr Sanderon, a retired optometrist, told the jury how he remembered the seconds leading up to the collision with Paltrow, who had been skiing with her two children that day in 2016.
“I remember everything was great and then I heard something I’ve never heard at a ski resort before – this blood-curdling scream like someone was out of control and going to hit a tree and die,” he said adding he “did not like going through the scene.”
Paltrow was seen shaking her head as the retired eye doctor told the court the contact from the collision felt “perfectly centred” in the bottom of his shoulder blades.
“I got hit in my back so hard, between my shoulder blades, serious serious smack… I’m flying,” Mr Sanderson said.
He said he recalled being knocked unconscious and coming round to a “male voice shouting”.
“I heard him saying ‘you weren’t skiing under the rules’, he was insistent I was the bad guy. I thought this must be the husband or boyfriend. It was a very angry person trying to bully me into thinking something,” he told the court. “I was trying to placate the man, mouthing I’m sorry.”
‘I’ve never been interested in Hollywood types’
Mr Sanderson was then asked about the now-famous email he sent to his three daughters days shortly after the crash with the subject line “I’m famous… at what cost”.
He explained: “My head was scrambled, I was trying to desperately communicate with my daughters.”
He added, fighting back tears: “I didn’t pick my words well or at all how I felt. I was adding levity to a serious situation and it backfired.”
When asked: “Did you think it was cool to collide with a celebrity?” He said he has never been interested in Hollywood types and that he just wanted to let his children know he was OK.
In their email exchange, Mr Sanderson suggests there must be a GoPro video of the incident, as skiers often carry such cameras with them.
He tells the court that he did not know if one actually existed and has never seen one. “I would have loved to have it,” he adds. “That was what we needed.”
“I’m living another life now,” he says of the fallout since the crash nearly seven years ago.
Mr Sanderson called himself a ”self-imposed recluse”, spending as much as 90 per cent of his time in the house.
“I don’t have the same spark I had. I have a much wider range of temperament than I did before,” he said when asked about anger issues since his collision due to brain damage.
He claims his previous relationship broke down, saying his personality changed after the accident. “I’m a different person,” he told the court.
Attorneys for Paltrow are set to ask Mr Sanderson about the post-concussion symptoms that medical experts and his doctors testified to last week.
The case has emerged as the most closely watched celebrity trial since Johnny Depp took Amber Heard to court almost a year ago.
Clips of attorney outbursts and Paltrow’s Friday testimony have been cut and circulated widely on social media, while observers have debated the motivations on both sides to sustain the prolonged legal battle seven years after the collision.
More to come.
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