In her corner. Gwyneth Paltrow’s children, Apple and Moses, gave their testimony on Tuesday, March 28, amid their mom’s ski crash trial.
The Goop founder’s daughter, 18, and son 16, whom she shares with ex-husband Chris Martin, spoke out in support of Paltrow, 50, after she was sued by doctor Terry Sanderson for allegedly crashing into him on the slopes in 2016 and leaving him injured. Paltrow, for her part, filed a countersuit, claiming Sanderson, 76, ran into her during the collision.
Moses recalled “briefly seeing the collision” while skiing alongside his instructor, according to his deposition, which was read to the jury by one of Paltrow’s legal team. “I recognized the equipment she was wearing because I know what she wears when she skis and then I realized it was my mom. So I was standing around and I realized it was my mother,” he explained of the incident. “When I skied over, I heard my mom yelling at the guy. She was saying something along the lines of , ‘What the F-word? You just ran into me.’”
Apple, for her part, said in her deposition, which was also read aloud to the jury on Tuesday, that she didn’t see the accident but recalled hearing a commotion soon after. The teenager explained that she learned her mom was involved in a crash when she met the Shakespeare in Love actress for lunch with the rest of their family, including stepfather Brad Falchuk.
The star’s eldest child recalled Paltrow looking “a bit shocked” when she sat down at the restaurant. When Apple asked her mom what happened, she said the cookbook author replied, “’This a-hole ran into me. He ran right into my back.’”
Apple testified that she “had never seen my mom shaken up like that and she was very clearly visibly upset and she had some sort of pain. She was in a little bit of pain and I remember that’s why she went to the spa to get a massage” instead of going back on the slopes.
Paltrow’s 52-year-old husband, Falchuk, is set to give a statement later in the trial in support of her claim that Sanderson was the one at fault during the Utah ski accident.
The Iron Man star first made headlines in January 2019 when Sanderson filed a lawsuit against her, claiming that Paltrow injured him and fled the scene in Deer Valley, Utah, three years prior.
“Gwyneth Paltrow skied out of control and hit the back of Terry Sanderson, another skier, who was downhill, knocking him down hard, knocking him out, and causing a brain injury, four broken ribs and other serious injuries,” court documents obtained by Us Weekly at the time stated. “Paltrow got up, turned and skied away, leaving Sanderson stunned, lying in the snow, seriously injured.”
The now-retired optometrist initially sought more than $3 million in damages, but he is now seeking $300,000 in the March trial.
Paltrow, meanwhile, denied the allegations in January 2019, telling Us in a statement that “the lawsuit is completely without merit and we expect to be vindicated.”
One month later, the Clean Plate author filed her own countersuit seeking a jury trial and a symbolic $1 in damages. According to her testimony, Paltrow was skiing with her family she was struck by Sanderson.
“She sustained a full ‘body blow.’ Ms. Paltrow was angry with Plaintiff, and said so. Plaintiff apologized,” her legal team claimed in court documents. “She was shaken and upset, and quit skiing for the day even though it was still morning.”
Throughout the trial, which began on Thursday, March 23, at the Park City District Court, Paltrow has maintained her innocence. In fact, when she took the stand on Friday, March 24, she further detailed the traumatic incident, claiming she originally thought the collision was a sexual assault due to the aggressive nature of the hit.
“I was skiing and two skis came between my skis forcing my legs apart and then there was a body pressing against me and there was a very strange grunting noise so my brain was trying to make sense of what was happening. I thought, ‘Is this a practical joke? Is someone doing something perverted? This is really, really strange,’” the Oscar winner said at the time. “My mind was going very quickly and I was trying to ascertain what was happening.”
When Sanderson shared his side of the story on Monday, March 27, Paltrow seemed unamused and was seen chuckling as he spoke about her alleged “blood curdling scream” before impact.
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“And then boom! It was like somebody was out of control and was going to hit a tree and was going to die,” the former doctor recalled of the accident. “And that’s what I had until I was hit.”
