The depositions of Gwyneth Paltrow's teenage children have been read in court this week, amid her current ski crash lawsuit.
Paltrow, 50, is being sued by 76-year-old Utah optometrist Dr. Terry Sanderson for $300,000 after he claims he was left with four broken ribs and a brain injury after the two collided on a ski slope at the Deer Valley Resort in Utah in 2016. His original lawsuit was seeking a claim of $3 million, but was subsequently dismissed by a judge.
According to the optometrist's filing, "Gwyneth Paltrow skied out of control [...] knocking [Sanderson] down hard, knocking him out, and causing a brain injury, four broken ribs and other serious injuries. Paltrow got up, turned, and skied away, leaving Sanderson stunned, lying in the snow, seriously injured."
As a result of the incident, Sanderson and his legal team are claiming that he has been left with brain damage, causing him to experience regular concussions and changes to his mood and personality. Paltrow is countersuing Sanderson for a symbolic $1 (and the cost of legal fees), stating that the collision was the optometrist's fault, not hers.
The Shakespeare In Love actress - who shares two children, Apple, 18, and Moses, 16, with Coldplay frontman Chris Martin - testified that she initially believed she'd been sexually assaulted when Sanderson ran into her, stating: "I was skiing and two skis came between my skis, forcing my legs apart. And then there was a body pressing against me. And there was a very strange grunting noise. So my brain was trying to make sense of what was happening."
Apple and Moses were expected to testify in person, however, their depositions were read to the court instead. Moses - who was nine when the incident occurred in 2016 - wrote in his deposition (via Sky News) that he "saw" his mum on the ground and "a person behind her who had crashed".
He added: "When I skied over I heard my mum yelling at the guy. She was saying something along the lines of 'what the f-word you just ran into me.'"
Both Paltrow and Sanderson have already taken the stand, with the latter being questioned by the GOOP founder's legal team over an email he sent to his daughters soon after the crash, which contained the subject line: "I'm famous... at what cost?"
He defended this during his testimony, telling the court: "Again, my head was scrambled, [but] all I was trying to do was desperately communicate with my kids before they heard from somebody else [that] I got crushed.
"I didn't pick my words well, not at all how I felt, and I was really trying to add a little levity to a serious situation and it backfired."
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