All’s well that ends well? After the jury ruled in her favor and found her not liable for a skiing accident in 2016, Gwyneth Paltrow made a point to say goodbye to the man behind the lawsuit — Terry Sanderson — before exiting the courtroom.
According to the 76-year-old retired doctor, Paltrow, 50, said “I wish you well” on Thursday, March 30, before she walked out. He noted that he replied, “Thank you, dear,” and told Extra that the message was “very kind of her.”
Sanderson subsequently told Billy Bush that he was “very disappointed” by the outcome.
“It should have been the facts of the accident because as I said, I brought absolutely the truth to the accident. There was no reason to wander from that and it still won’t, and I brought it for that reason,” he said. “I wanted to see if justice prevails in those situations, but it becomes character assassination. … It becomes things that you thought were long gone in your life, things from 30 years ago, 40 years ago, that should be meaningless.”
The eight-day trial, which began on March 21, went viral for several moments ahead of the jury’s decision, including Paltrow’s facial expressions and outfits.
“You get some assumed credibility from being a famous person … Who wants to take on a celebrity? No wonder I hesitated,” Sanderson told Bush. “It’s difficult. Who wants to do that someone who learns lines, learns how to play someone else’s part and be believable, be credible, wins awards? Who wants to go on that path.”
When asked whether he believes the Oscar winner was lying, Sanderson responded: “I believe she thinks she has the truth … but I absolutely know I said I would not bring any falsehoods.”
Sanderson filed the lawsuit against Paltrow in 2019, three years after a skiing accident in Deer Valley, Utah. He alleged that the actress ran into him and fled the scene, further claiming that the incident caused multiple severe injuries, including a brain injury and four broken ribs. Paltrow, for her part, maintained that Sanderson was the one to hit her and countersued for a symbolic $1 in damages plus her legal fees. The jury sided in her favor on Thursday as the trial came to an end.
“I felt that acquiescing to a false claim compromised my integrity,” Paltrow wrote via Instagram Story after her legal win. “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.”
