Actor Gwyneth Paltrow's testimony in a skiing accident case has been making headlines, amid negative publicity about her wellness advice, which many have decried as "starvation". The Oscar winning actor has been sued by a man who claimed to have suffered a brain injury after a collision with her while skiing in Utah several years ago. Paltrow has denied blame for the accident and countersued, detailing how she was she was hit from behind by the skier and feared sexual assault.
Here is 10-point summary of the case:
- Paltrow has been sued by a retired optometrist named Terry Sanderson for over $3 million in damages.
- Sanderson's lawyers have accused the actor of skiing in a reckless way and colliding into him, adding that the accident left him with broken ribs and permanent brain damage.
- But Paltrow blamed the man for the accident, saying it was he who crashed into her behind.
- The actor told a Utah court how she panicked, thinking she was being sexually assaulted. "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," she was quoted as saying by AFP. "So my brain was trying to make sense of what was happening. I thought, 'Is this a practical joke? Is someone doing something perverted?'"
- Paltrow insisted that Sanderson categorically hit her on the ski slope. "That is the truth," she added.
- But Paltrow's response after the incident has been called into question. Sanderson's lawyers said she fled after the collision.
- Meanwhile, the actor said she only left after the ski instructor told her she could go. "He stayed and filled out the report, made sure Mr. Sanderson was okay," Paltrow said.
- Sanderson will also give his testimony at a later stage in the trial.
- He has been countersued by Paltrow for a symbolic $1 and legal fees.
- In the next week, Paltrow's children, who were with her on the ski trip, as well as her ski instructor, will also take the stand.
(With inputs from AFP)
