Europe1 .fr with AFP 12:21 p.m., March 29, 2023

American actress Gwyneth Paltrow appeared on March 21 in a court in Utah, in the west of the United States, where she is being sued in civil proceedings by a man who accuses her of injuring her in a skiing accident seven years ago. The actress, Oscar winner in 1999 for her role in "Shakespeare in Love" has also filed a complaint.

American actress Gwyneth Paltrow appeared Tuesday, March 21 in a court in Utah, in the west of the United States, where she is sued in civil proceedings by a man who accuses her of injuring her in a skiing accident seven years ago. Terry Sanderson's lawyer, a retired optician, said at the opening of the trial that his client had suffered an estimated loss of more than $3 million.

The actress, Oscar winner in 1999 for her role in "Shakespeare in Love" has, in turn, filed a complaint. His attorney, Steven Owens, told a Park City court on Tuesday that Terry Sanderson was "obsessed" with the complaint and that the case was based on "false allegations."

A collision that dates back to February 2016

The collision took place in February 2016 in Deer Valley, an upscale Rocky Mountain resort located above Park City, a tourist town that hosts the Sundance Film Festival. According to the complainant, Gwyneth Paltrow ran into him while skiing in a "dangerous" manner, causing him "four broken ribs and permanent brain damage" before fleeing, leaving him unconscious.

READ ALSO – Gwyneth Paltrow cropped by NASA

On the contrary, the actress claims that it was Terry Sanderson who hit her in the back. Her lawyer says she "wasn't going fast" and that she got scared when Terry Sanderson appeared behind her. "It shook her and physically hurt her," he said.

Two different versions

On Monday, March 28, the man who accuses American actress Gwyneth Paltrow of hitting him in a skiing accident assured the court that the accident had changed his "nature". "I'm living another life now," Terry Sanderson, the 76-year-old retired optometrist who says Gwyneth Paltrow hit him in 2016 on a track in Utah, inflicting four broken ribs and brain damage before fleeing, leaving him unconscious.

Afterward, "my interactions with my family were more difficult," he said. "Something is wrong with my nature (...) Communication is not as fluid anymore." According to Gwyneth Paltrow, it was Terry Sanderson who hit her. But the latter insisted on Monday: "I was hit very hard in the back, pile on the shoulder blades. (...) I've never been hit so hard, and I found myself flying."

"Another personality" inhabits the skier's body

Asked about an email he later sent to his daughters about the collision, accompanied by the subject line "I'm famous", he explained: "I didn't choose my words well. I was trying to put lightness in a serious situation and it backfired." "This is the other personality that now inhabits my body," he added.

For the actress' lawyer, Stephen Owens, Terry Sanderson's personality changes would rather be related to natural aging.