Gwyneth Paltrow’s ski crash trial is now in the hands of the jury.
Attorneys for Paltrow and plaintiff Terry Sanderson delivered closing arguments Thursday, each blaming the other’s client for the 2016 crash in Park City, Utah.
“It’s not about the money,” said Paltrow attorney Steve Owens, who added that his client could have simply cut a check to settle the case. “What would that teach her children?”
Sanderon’s attorney, Robert Sykes, said his client never recovered from the collision that left him with four broken ribs and a concussion: “He never returned home that night as the same man. Terry has tried to get off that mountain but he’s really still there.”
Sanderson, 76, and Paltrow, 50, collided on a training hill at Deer Valley Resort in Park City on Feb. 26, 2016. The two have spent the past seven years blaming each other for the crash.
Sanderson claims Paltrow was skiing out of control when she slammed into him and sent him flying down the hill.
He testified Monday that he’d been “living a different life” ever since, thanks to “permanent traumatic brain injury, four broken ribs, pain, suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, emotional distress and disfigurement.”
Sanderson also made headlines for saying he couldn’t enjoy wine tastings after the crash.
Paltrow testified that it was Sanderson who skied into her. Last Friday, Paltrow said she thought she was being “violated” in the early moments of the collision.
“I think you have to keep in mind when you’re the victim of a crash, right, your psychology is not necessarily thinking about the person who perpetrated it,” Paltrow said when asked why she didn’t check on Sanderson after the crash.
Sanderson’s initial lawsuit demanded $3.1 million, but he lowered that request after the first suit was thrown out. Paltrow countersued for a symbolic $1 and attorneys fees.