On Monday, in the latest dramatic installment of the ski collision trial between Gwyneth Paltrow and Terry Sanderson, Paltrow’s attorney grilled Sanderson on the email he sent hours after the crash in which he told his daughters, “I’m famous.”
Paltrow’s team’s argument—that Sanderson was the one who skied into Paltrow and that he is only suing in an attempt to take advantage of her celebrity—was on full display here.
“My head was scrambled. All I was trying to do was desperately communicate with my kids before they heard from someone else,” Sanderson said in court on Monday when asked about the email. “I didn’t pick my words well—and it was not at all how I felt… I was really trying to add some levity to a serious situation and it backfired. Little did I know this is where we’d be.”
Asked specifically if he thought it was “cool” that his collision had been with a celebrity, Sanderson said, “absolutely not,” adding, “I’m not into celebrity worship, so I didn’t care at that point.”
“Do you recall saying that you agree that saying ‘I’m famous’ was a crazy thing to say?” Paltrow’s attorney Stephen Owens asked Sanderson.
“Absolutely, it’s not me,” Sanderson said. “I don’t buy into that.”
“But it was you, right? When you say ‘it wasn’t me,’ it was, in fact, you,” Owens responded.
“It’s the other personality that’s inhabiting my body right now,” Sanderson said.
“And you blame Gwyneth Paltrow for that?” Owens asked.
“Yes,” Sanderson replied.
Earlier on Monday, the 76-year-old retiree cried on the stand while talking about his relationship with his daughters since the accident, which he said has been fractured. He also held back tears when discussing breaking up with his ex-girlfriend after the collision because he wasn’t sure if he was going to recover from his injuries.
“I can’t ski anymore,” Sanderson claimed. “I was told if I did and I had another crash, I could wind up full time in a nursing home.”
Sanderson is seeking $300,000 in damages from Paltrow, claiming that their 2016 collision on a ski slope resulted in brain injury, four broken ribs, and emotional distress. Paltrow, who testified on Friday, is seeking a symbolic $1 and compensation for her legal fees.
The trial is ongoing in Park City, Utah.
