Gwyneth Paltrow’s Ski Crash Trial Reads Like Mad Libs for Rich People
A retired doctor claims his collision with Paltrow left him too injured to enjoy wine tasting in what the internet has dubbed "the whitest trial of all time."
Entertainment

Believe it or not, there are serious claims at the center of Gwyneth Paltrow’s ski trial: Terry Sanderson, a 76-year-old retired optometrist, alleges that the Goop founder and CEO and Academy Award winner crashed into him while skiing at the ultra exclusive Deer Valley Resort seven years ago. The collision, he says, culminated in severe injuries including brain trauma and broken ribs that have since damaged his quality of life. Unfortunately, anyone paying attention to what’s been dubbed “the whitest trial of all time” has likely been just a little distracted by certain absurdities that include green juice, cashmere sweaters, and claims of being left “no longer charming” and unable to enjoy wine tastings.
The proceedings officially began in Park City, Utah, on Tuesday and stem from a 2019 lawsuit filed by Sanderson against Paltrow for $3.1 million. He claims in court filings that she exhibited “negligence” by plowing into him, “knocking him down hard, knocking him out,” while skiing with her family in 2016. Sanderson later changed the damages sought to a more conservative $300,000. One month after he filed the suit, Paltrow countersued Sanderson for a symbolic $1 (a la Taylor Swift), asserting that he was the one who’d crashed into her and was exploiting her fame and celebrity to get her to “pay him millions.”
Sanderson’s attorneys have called on medical professionals and asserted that their client has suffered in a myriad of ways—cognitively, behaviorally and interpersonally—since the collision. “Before this crash, Terry was a charming, outgoing, gregarious person,” one of his attorneys, Lawrence D. Buhler, said during opening statements. “After the crash, he’s no longer charming.”
On Wednesday, radiologist Wendell Gibby testified that Sanderson showed the “typical hallmarks” of a brain injury consistent with being crashed into, and apparently that includes…a hindered ability to taste wine, among other more grave conditions.