Gwyneth Paltrow Blasts ‘Ridiculous’ Utah Ski Trial 2 Years Later: ‘I’m Not Going to Be Shaken Down’

• Gwyneth Paltrow was found not liable after skier Terry Sanderson sued her over a 2016 collision on a Utah mountain
• In a podcast interview, the actress-entrepreneur agreed with hosts that the resulting 2023 civil trial was “ridiculous” 
• Paltrow explained why she countersued and stuck her ground, saying, “I’m not going to be shaken down”

Gwyneth Paltrow is reflecting on her “ridiculous” ski accident trial from two years ago.

“I have to say, the idea that someone could ski into your back and knock you down and then sue you,” Paltrow, 52, told hosts Erin and Sara Foster on the April 24 episode of The World’s First Podcast, “I was like, ‘This is everything that’s wrong with our legal system.’ ”

The Oscar winner went to trial over a 2016 collision on a Utah mountain involving Terry Sanderson, who sued Paltrow for $3.1 million, claiming she skied into him in a hit-and-run. Denying all wrongdoing, the actress countersued for a symbolic one dollar plus legal fees. In March 2023, a Park City jury found that it was Sanderson who was at 100% fault, ruling in Paltrow’s favor after less than three hours of deliberations.

The World’s First Podcast hosts brought up the civil case in reference to the outfits Paltrow wore throughout the 2023 trial, saying “the best thing” about watching it was “the internal eye roll the whole time at the fact that you were there at all.”

“It was ridiculous,” agreed the Goop founder. “That’s why I felt like I had to fight it. I was like, ‘I’m not going to be shaken down here.’ I’m not doing that.”

Immediately following the verdict, Paltrow could be seen whispering to Sanderson in the courtroom. “I wish you well,” the retired optometrist recounted her saying as he talked to reporters outside, per the Associated Press. He told Extra that the Avengers star’s words were “very kind of her.”

Paltrow said in a statement at the time, “I felt that acquiescing to a false claim compromised my integrity. I am pleased with the outcome and I appreciate all of the hard work of Judge Holmberg and the jury, and thank them for their thoughtfulness in handling this case.”

Later in 2023, she told The New York Times, “That whole thing was pretty weird. I don’t know that I’ve even processed it. It was something I felt like I survived.”

Elsewhere in her World’s First Podcast interview, Paltrow reflected on unlearning jealousy with the help of her mother Blythe Danner, feeling JOMO (or “the joy of missing out”) and which public beliefs about her aren’t true