The man who unsuccessfully sued Gwyneth Paltrow after he claimed she crashed into him while skiing in Utah appeared to compare the actress to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Terry Sanderson, 76, sought $300,000 in damages from the Shallow Hal star, 50, following the collision at the Deer Valley Resort in Park City on February 26, 2016.
She claimed that he was responsible for the crash and countersued for $1 and the cost of her legal fees. Despite claiming that the incident had left him with four broken ribs and brain damage, the eight jurors on the trial sided with Paltrow on her version of events.
There were several standout moments during the trial, which came to a conclusion on Thursday, March 30.
One which raised eyebrows saw the retired optometrist appear to compare Paltrow to the now-deceased financier, who took his own life while in jail.
Having taken the stand on Wednesday, Sanderson argued that "someone needs to be held accountable" for the incident.
He said: "I guess like, what is going on here? We have an issue that someone needs to be held accountable for."
"We have children being molested on an island," the former Army optometrist said, apparently referring to Epstein, "and if they are never held accountable, what are they going to do? They are going to do it again."
The judge then told the jurors to disregard this part of the plaintiff's testimony.
Paltrow appeared stunned by what Sanderson had said, with her attorney immediately referring to Sanderson's words as "ridiculous".
According to Sanderson's filing, he accused Paltrow of being "out of control" on the slopes and "knocking him down hard, knocking him out, and causing a brain injury, four broken ribs and other serious injuries."
It continued: "Paltrow got up, turned, and skied away, leaving Sanderson stunned, lying in the snow, seriously injured."
In his opening statement, Sanderson's attorney Lawrence D. Buhler referred to Paltrow as a "distracted skier".
He said: "Distracted skiers cause crashes. Defendant Gwyneth Paltrow knew that looking up the mountain and to the side, while skiing down the mountain, was dangerous."
"And she knew that skiing that way … was reckless," said Buhler.
Paltrow had been skiing down a green hill with her two children, her now-husband, Brad Falchuk, and four instructors at the time of the incident.
She said on the stand that Sanderson had crashed into her from behind and even said she thought the incident was a "practical joke" or possibly a sexual assault on her.
