The retired ophthalmologist who sued Gwyneth Paltrow over a ski collision between the actress and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has compared the bizarre clamor on the witness stand as the widely watched trial winds down.
Terry Sanderson, 76, continued his testimony Wednesday, making the wild comparison that Paltrow needs to be held accountable for the accident.
”I think, what’s going on here?” Obviously, this is a problem for which a person must be responsible, and if he was never responsible, what would he do? They will do it again, he started.
“Now we have … pedophiles on an island,” he said, referring to Epstein’s “pedophile island” in the Caribbean where he trafficked and sexually assaulted dozens of girls.
A distraught Paltrow looked at her attorney, who called Sanderson’s testimony “absurd.” Then the judge told the jury to ignore Sanderson’s words. Closing arguments from both sides are expected on Thursday.
Terry Sanderson, 76, the retired optometrist who sued Gwyneth Paltrow over a ski collision, compared the actress to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in a bizarre catwalk struggle.
Paltrow takes a stunned look at Sanderson before looking at her attorney, who calls the testimony “ridiculous.” Then the judge told the jury to ignore Sanderson’s words
Sanderson is suing Paltrow, claiming it spun out of control and collided with him, leaving him with four broken ribs and a concussion with symptoms that lasted years after the collision.
After a judge dismissed his initial $3.1 million complaint, Sanderson amended the suit and returned it for “more than $300,000.” In response, Paltrow opposed a token $1 and attorney’s fees.
On Wednesday, in the last hour of the last full day for Paltrow’s defense team to call witnesses, they called Sanderson back on the witness stand.
Sanderson’s shocking comparison on the witness stand came after a question from his attorney, Christine Van Orman, who asked, “Was it important to you to bring this lawsuit?”
Sanderson then told the court how many insults he received because he was suing a celebrity. This led to Paltrow likening him to Epstein.
After the shocking comparison was made while on the witness stand, “Your Honor” could be heard from the other side to which Sanderson mediated a “denial.”
“That’s ridiculous testimony, he’s talking about…” Paltrow’s attorney Stephen Owens yelled. The judge asked the jury to ignore this part of the testimony.
Sanderson continued his testimony on Wednesday, making a wild comparison that Paltrow needed to be held accountable for the accident.
Sanderson is suing Paltrow (pictured in court Wednesday), claiming she spun out of control and collided with him, leaving him with injuries that lasted years after the collision
Paltrow sits alongside her attorney in court on Wednesday as a boisterous Sanderson rants on the stand
Terry Sanderson leaves Park City County Courthouse in Park City, Utah, on Wednesday
Paltrow’s defense team used most of their last full day dominating the witness stand to call medical experts to testify.
Sanderson’s attorneys are expected Thursday morning to begin subpoenaing their medical experts to refute Paltrow’s allegations. Each side will have approximately one hour to make their closing arguments to the jury.
Paltrow’s attorneys are expected to continue their two-pronged approach, with both arguing that the actor turned lifestyle influencer did not cause the accident and its aftermath isn’t as bad as Sanderson claims. They portrayed him as a ‘maniac’ man pushing ‘absolute BS’ claims against someone whose fame makes him vulnerable to unfair and frivolous lawsuits.
Sanderson’s team will likely cite how the man who claims to be the only eyewitness witnessed Paltrow beating his client and continues to spin the case as a contemporary David vs. Goliath story in which Sanderson suffered injuries and had the guts to take on a movie star.
Paltrow’s account of the collision with Terry Sanderson is shown in an animated reconstruction as the defense claims he was actually the one who hit the actress from behind
Sanderson testified Friday that he continued to pursue damages seven years after the accident because the cascading events that followed — his post-concussion symptoms and the accusation that he sued for exploiting Paltrow’s fame — added insult to injury.
That’s the point: to make me regret this lawsuit. On Wednesday, in response to a question from his attorneys about Paltrow’s team’s investigation into his personal life, medical records and extensive international travel itinerary after the plane crash, he said it was the pain of trying to sue a celebrity.
Although both sides mustered significant resources to emerge victorious, recall could end up ruling as an afterthought dwarfed by the worldwide attention the trial attracted. The amount of money at stake for both sides pales in comparison to the typical legal costs of a multi-year lawsuit, private security detail, and expert witness-heavy trial.
With long lists of witnesses on call, attorneys faced difficult choices about how to reconcile the experts appointed, family members, doctors, and the testimony of Sanderson and Paltrow themselves.
Paltrow’s defense team picked mostly experts to mount their final defense on Wednesday. They chose to call four medical experts to testify in place of Paltrow’s husband, television producer Brad Falchuk.
The day before, they had read statements from Paltrow’s two children—Apple and Moses—instead of calling them to testify as they had earlier indicated they had planned to.
While Abel (left) and Moses Martin (right) were “ready, willing, and able” to testify in person, their mothers’ attorneys chose to read their testimonial transcripts aloud
The actress donned a long blue trench coat, black uniform, classic Ray Ban aviators and a faint smile as she exited the building before the scheduled final day of the trial on Thursday.
Among the most met with testimonials were from Paltrow and Sanderson. On Friday, members of the jury revolted when Paltrow said on the stand that she initially thought she was being violated when the collision began.
Three days later, Sanderson gave a very different account, saying she came across him and sent him “completely flew.”
The experience also put the spotlight on Park City, known primarily as the ski resort that welcomes celebrities like Paltrow to the Sundance Film Festival every year.
Local residents increasingly occupied the courthouse throughout the trial. They nodded as attorneys and witnesses pointed out local landmarks like Montage Deer Valley, a ski-side hotel and spa where Paltrow got a post-crash massage.
At times, they seemed intrigued by Paltrow’s reactions to the procedures, while in others they mirrored the jury, whose endurance was tested by hours of jargon-heavy medical testimony.
