By Associated Press on March 31, 2023 at 10:29 am
PARK CITY, Utah ( Associated Press) — Gwyneth Paltrow has filed to go to trial and a lawsuit accusing her of causing a skier to “absolutely fly” down a Utah ski slope in 2016.
The actress, when the jury found her not at fault for the accident, awarded her exactly the dollar she was seeking in her lawsuit. When the sentence was read in court, the forum, mostly supporters of the actress, groaned as Paltrow sat next to her lawyer, carefully avoiding any emotion that could be construed as surprise or disdain.
Paltrow may also have emerged victorious in the court of public opinion, say Hollywood lawyers and publicists.
“It’s not often that you’re going to spearhead all the cost, time and litigation for a dollar,” said Tre Lovell, a Los Angeles attorney who handles many celebrity cases. “But he wanted to turn this into a positive as a way of saying ‘I’m not used’ and ‘I’m good'”.
The versatile actress avoided memorable mistakes during the eight-day experiment that was watched closely by viewers in Park City, Utah and around the world every day. The matter also ended at a whim, when he stopped leaning forward from the court, and wished his accuser on his shoulder to try his best luck.
“He did very well to stand up,” said Emily D. Baker, a legal analyst and former Los Angeles deputy district attorney. “She was kind, steady, never fierce. And he understood that the complainant was having a lucubration.
When Terry Sanderson, 76, filed a lawsuit in 2019, it was one such case that seemed to cry out for specific and more private disputes against their own celebrities. but in four years.
“I felt like I was getting a false claim about my integrity,” Paltrow posted to her 8.3 million Instagram followers after the sentence.
Sanderson himself later questioned whether the lawsuit was worth it, saying that he believed people would naturally believe it was becoming like Paltrow.
Juror Samantha Imrie said in an interview on Good Morning America that it was the testimony, not Paltrow’s report, that convinced the jury. He said Sanderson appeared to be telling “his truth” but thought he was “twisting it.” Imrie, a 31-year-old nurse, said she found Paltrow’s testimony clear.
“In the back of my mind I was like, ‘Yeah, this is a female actress,’ and you know, I took it into account,” Imrie said. “But I did not feel the need to lie to the juror. Always in the limelight, as always pure.
Holly Baird, a publicist who handles celebrity lawsuits in many court cases, says that while lawsuits have potential downsides, there’s no reason celebrities should avoid them at all costs.
“I didn’t think this was a debt to him,” Baird said. “This isn’t like a murder case or anything. Humanize it. People have similar stories.”
There were moments of potential danger, such as when Paltrow responded to a question about her losses by saying that she had admitted to “skiing half a day” by paying nearly $9,000 for her children’s ski instruction and explaining why she would let her ski. instructor to remain after inspections in Sanderson and exchange information. While Sanderson was waiting for the ski tour to take him up the mountain, he took his sons Moses and Lake up the mountain, testifying that he had taken advantage of the things that had been done for him.
But an honest answer cannot hurt him.
“They live in different worlds and theirs becomes normality, it will take it,” said Lovell. “You can have it, and they will recognize it and accept it. You just have to appear humble.”
Baird agrees.
“I think it’s true,” he said. “With her children, she is worried about them.”
Apparently, the judges found Paltrow pretty sweet, returning after only two and a half hours of deliberations to hand her a resounding victory, which put 100% of the blame on Sanderson for the collision. Paltrow was awarded the dollar she demanded in the lawsuit, an indication of the amount similar to what Taylor Swift received in 2017 for a defamation lawsuit against the radio host.
Sanderson sought “more than $300,000” in the lawsuit, while in closing arguments his attorneys estimated the damages at more than $3.2 million.
Lawyers are known to always conduct family interviews with witnesses during appearances in an attempt to cultivate compassion among jurors. But many of Sanderson’s watchers thought her attorney, Kristin VanOrman, did the actress a huge favor when she sometimes appeared to be amused by Paltrow when she took the stand.
When VanOrman asked Paltrow her height and she answered about 5’7, VanOrman replied, “I’m so jealous! I’m thinking of refusing. I have a heel!”
Lovell said it was so “weird and ineffective” that he thought VanOrman was Paltrow’s lawyer when he first heard it.
“Ridiculous,” he said. “Jurates sees himself and thinks that he cannot be so bad if the lawyer wants to oppose him. She seemed overwhelmed by her celebrity.
Paltrow, who was nominated for an Oscar, has had fewer and fewer roles in recent years. She is now identified by many with her lifestyle and health company Goop, although the products she offers are sometimes drawn to some extent as a joke.
But it also makes Paltrow her boss, who doesn’t look at other people’s work, which gathers devoted clients and fans.
“Gwyneth has such a cult following in life and health, and people love to see another side of her life like this,” Baird said. “I think he should use the PR team. He spends a lot of time in front of the employee than in any other way.”
Paltrow is fighting to defend his reputation with his many supporters, including those who battled blizzards to fill the city hall for two weeks.
“When you’re a celebrity, you know there’s going to be some of that, but it’s totally over the top,” said Ann Malcolm, a Park City resident who enjoys skiing at Deer Valley, the mountain where Paltrow and Sanderson collided.
A group of locals and some who traveled from California to watch the trial wore autos and shirts that read “#Gwynnocent.” Those gathered praised Paltrow for her kindness and for fighting for the truth.
“He thought it was easy money,” said Dav
id Madow, a private dentist and avid sailor who attended several days of the trial. “I was shocked that he said, ‘No, that’s what I’m going to do.’
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Dal reported from Los Angeles. Associate writer Krysta Fauria contributed to this report.
