The most high-profile celebrity lawsuits of all time

Gwyneth Paltrow found not liable in bizarre ski crash trial

Stars Insider

31/03/23 | StarsInsider

CELEBRITY Law

Once you hit a certain level of fame or a certain bank account balance, lawsuits become inevitable. Realistically, we'd probably all get sued for libel if all of our social media posts and conversations were analyzed with a fine-tooth comb! It's no wonder then that celebrities are constantly besieged with legal problems. Many of these lawsuits seem outrageously frivolous, while others deal with incredibly serious matters.

In a case that certainly leaned toward the frivolous, Gwyneth Paltrow has come out victorious in her Utah trial over an alleged 2016 hit-and-run ski accident. Retired optometrist Terry Sanderson sued the Goop guru for US$300,000 over the incident. Both parties claim the other plowed into them. Paltrow countersued Sanderson for a symbolic amount of US$1 and the trial got underway on March 21. Given Paltrow's celebrity status, public interest was high and every moment of the trial was reported and analyzed, from her "Jeffrey Dahmer" outfit on the first day to her bizarre exchanges on the stand. However, the jury took less than three hours to come to a verdict when the two-week spectacle finally came to an end. They ruled definitively that Paltrow was not at fault and that Sanderson was fully liable for the collision. He was ordered to pay her the requested US$1, but whether or not he will be ordered to pay her legal fees will be decided at a later date. As Paltrow left the courtroom following the verdict, she stopped to tell Sanderson, "I wish you well."

In an email statement, Paltrow said, “I felt that acquiescing to a false claim compromised my integrity. I am pleased with the outcome and I appreciate all of the hard work of Judge Holmberg and the jury, and thank them for their thoughtfulness in handling this case.” 

Click through this gallery for more details on Paltrow's trial and to look back at more of the most high-profile celebrity lawsuits of all time.

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