When two skiers collided during a rookie race at a high-end Utah ski resort in 2016, no one could have predicted that seven years later the accident would go to trial of closely watched celebrities.
But The Live Trial of Gwyneth Paltrow over his collision with Terry Sanderson, a 76-year-old retired optometrist in Park City, has become the biggest celebrity lawsuit since actors Johnny Depp and Amber Heard faced last year – spawning memes, sparking debate about the burden of fame and making ski etiquette rules of who was uphill and who had the relevant right of way beyond those who can afford station chairlift tickets.
THURSDAY, Paltrow has won his legal battle after a jury ruled the movie star was not responsible for the accident. Here’s a look at the highlights of the two-week trial:
___
Lifestyles of the rich and famous
For seven days, lawyers highlighted — and downplayed — the extravagant lifestyles of Paltrow and Sanderson.
Sanderson’s attorneys have sought more than $300,000 in damages, but the money at stake for both sides pales in comparison to the typical legal costs of a multi-year lawsuit. Both sides together brigades of expert witnesses, including a biomechanical engineer and a collision expert.
Paltrow’s legal team attempted to portray Sanderson as an angry aging man who continued to travel overseas after the collision. They presented photos as evidence of Sanderson riding a camel in Morocco, hiking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu in Peru and a continent-wide loop through Europe with stops in the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, France and Belgium.
Sanderson’s lawyers questioned Paltrow about the $8,890 bill that day for private ski instructors for four children who accompanied him, as well as his decision to leave the track after the accident for a massage. . They said the accident caused Sanderson to drift away from friends and family, and they called his ex-girlfriend to testify about how their relationship had deteriorated because he “didn’t had more joy in his life”.
To keep jurors engaged, Paltrow’s team shared a series of advanced high-resolution animations to accompany their witnesses’ memories. The renderings reflected the financial investment that Paltrow and his defense team have put into the case.
___
The Burden of Fame
Lawyers on both sides tapped into the power of celebrity to argue that reputation and moral principles were at stake in the lawsuit.
Sanderson’s team attempted to characterize Paltrow, the actor-turned-lifestyle influencer, as awkward, out of touch and evading responsibility. They assimilated his decision to file a $1 countersuit against Sanderson for Taylor Swift, who filed a similar counterclaim in a 2017 lawsuit – drawing attention to Paltrow’s testimony that she was ‘not good friends’ with Swift but just ‘friendly’.
Paltrow’s Defense Team called the high-profile case was an attempt to exploit her fame and suggested she was vulnerable to unfair and frivolous lawsuits. They asked witnesses about Sanderson’s “obsession” with the case and focused on an email subject line in which Sanderson wrote after the collision: “I’m famous.”
“To become famous, he will lie,” said one of Paltrow’s attorneys. “I’m not into celebrity worship,” Sanderson later refuted.
___
meme factory
Although the trial tested the stamina of the jury as its eight members sank steadily deeper into their chairs through hours of expert testimony, it titillated onlookers around the world, became late-night TV fodder and fed the internet’s insatiable appetite for memes.
Viewers tuning in to the proceedings on CourtTV saw Paltrow complain about losing half a day of skiing after the accident and heard a radiologist testify that Sanderson could no longer enjoy wine tasting. They compared the show to “The White Lotus” – a HBO series that satirizes the petty grievances of wealthy, white vacationers – and, in a reflection of courtroom theatrics and public attention, compared Paltrow’s defense to the Salem Witch Trials of ” The Crucible” by Arthur Miller.
Photographs of Paltrow entering and exiting the courtroom – often shielding his face, perp-walk style, with a blue notebook with the initials GP – have also gone viral on social media.
___
Utah’s fanciest ski resort
The proceedings brought the world’s attention to Park City, Utah, the upscale ski resort-turned-boomtown where Paltrow and Sanderson crashed and where the trial took place. The city annually hosts the Sundance Film Festivalwhere early in her career Paltrow would appear for the premieres of her films, including 1998’s “Sliding Doors,” at a time when she was known primarily as an actress, not a celebrity wellness entrepreneur.
The jury and local residents who braved blizzards to get to the courthouse each day nodded as lawyers referred to local landmarks like The Montage Deer Valley, the luxury slopeside resort where Paltrow received a massage after the accident.
The all-white jury was made up of registered voters in Summit County, where the average home sold for $1.3 million last month and where residents tend to be less religious than the rest of Utah. , where the majority of the population belongs to the Church of Jesus Christ. of Latter-day Saints.
Unlike the high-powered Hollywood lawyers who become household names at celebrity trials, both sides were represented by local attorneys. Paltrow’s team specializes in medical malpractice lawsuits, while Sanderson’s lead attorney, Bob Sykes, is known in Salt Lake City for his lawsuit work against police departments. Sykes attempted to play his folksy side, calling himself “just a country lawyer” more than six times during the trial. After the jurors were sent home on Wednesday, both legal teams joked about the trial attorney trick.
___
The mysterious GoPro disappeared
Paltrow’s lawyers intrigued the jury with questions about the potential collision captured on helmet-cam videoalthough no footage was included as evidence in the trial.
Sanderson’s daughter testified this week that an email she sent on the day of the accident referring to a GoPro did not imply the existence of any footage. She said she and her father speculated that at a crowded rookie race, someone carrying a camera must have turned to watch the crash after hearing Paltrow scream.
Internet sleuths after the trial then found and sent the lawyers the link included in the email. Rather than revealing GoPro footage, it contained a chat between members of Sanderson’s ski party, including the man claiming to be the only eyewitness who testified that Paltrow crashed into Sanderson.
___
The verdict
Paltrow watched his attorneys with a pursed smile as the judge read the eight-member jury’s verdict in the Park City courtroom.
The jury awarded him $1; however, the attorney’s fees she sought in her countersuit were not included in the verdict, leaving most of the final decision up to the Park City judge.
Paltrow thanked the judge and jury for their work.
“I felt that acquiescing to a misrepresentation compromised my integrity,” the actor said in a statement released by his reps.
As Paltrow left the court, she touched Sanderson’s shoulder and said, “I wish you well,” Sanderson told reporters outside the court. He replied, “Thank you, darling.”
___
Furman reported from Los Angeles.