Gwyneth Paltrow sounded as if her blood was boiling when she looked back on the viral ski crash trial she was subjected to in 2023 on a recent podcast appearance.

While joining hosts Erin and Sara Foster on The World’s First Podcast, the 52-year-old Oscar winner blasted the trial as ‘ridiculous,’ but she explained that she didn’t want to save herself the hassle by settling because she refused to be ‘shaken down.’

Gwyneth was sued by the Utah-based retired optometrist Terry Sanderson, who was 76 at the time, after he claimed that she had crashed into him on February 26, 2016, in Park City, Utah, which was until recently the home of the Sundance Film Festival.

‘It was ridiculous, and I have to say that the idea that someone could ski into your back and knock you down and then sue you? I was like, “This is everything that’s wrong with our legal system,”‘ Gwyneth said with righteous fury. ‘That’s why I felt like I had to fight it.’

Sanderson initially sued Paltrow for a stunning $3.1 million, claiming that she was skiing erratically before she knocked him over, though he later reduced the amount he was asking for to $300,000.

But Paltrow denied his claims and said it was Sanderson who was responsible for the collision. She also accused him of exaggerating his injuries, after he claimed that he was knocked unconscious and suffered a brain injury, while also claiming he broke four ribs in the collision.

Gwyneth Paltrow sounded as if her blood was boiling when she looked back on the viral ski crash trial she was subjected to in 2023 on a recent podcast appearance. She called the trial ‘ridiculous’ on Erin and Sara Foster’s The World’s First Podcast; pictured in March 2023 in Park City, Utah

Gwyneth was sued by the Utah-based retired optometrist Terry Sanderson, who was 76 at the time, after he claimed that she had crashed into him on February 26, 2016, in Park City, Utah; Sanderson is pictured in March 2023 in Park City

I have to say that the idea that someone could ski into your back and knock you down and then sue you? I was like, “This is everything that’s wrong with our legal system,”‘ Gwyneth said with righteous fury. ‘That’s why I felt like I had to fight it’; seen in March 2023 in Park City

The actress also said on the stand that she feared Sanderson was attempting to sexually assault her just before they crashed, which he denied. 

‘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,’ she said on the stand. ‘So my brain was trying to make sense of what was happening.’

She countersued Sanderson, and the jury ultimately found her not liable, while determining that he was ‘100 percent’ at fault.

Paltrow had requested a symbolic $1 in damages, which the optometrist paid, though he later said suing her was ‘absolutely not’ worth it, as he was estimated to owe legal fees into the seven-figure range.

Although Sanderson first sued Paltrow in 2019, three years after the incident, the trial itself didn’t start for another four years. 

‘I’m not going to be shaken down here,’ Gwyneth said of Sanderson’s demands on the podcast. ‘I’m not doing that.’

After the verdict in March 2023, Gwyneth said in a statement that she opted to take the lawsuit to trial so as not to compromise her ‘integrity.’

The ski crash trial caused a sensation on social media, not only because a famous star was on trial, but also because of some of Gwyneth’s more striking fashion choices.

‘I’m not going to be shaken down here,’ Gwyneth said of Sanderson’s demands on the podcast. ‘I’m not doing that’; pictured in March 2023 in Park City, Utah

After the verdict, she infamously approached Sanderson to allegedly say, ‘I wish you well,’ which many observers took to be a cold-blooded statement rather than a genuine display of compassion; seen in March 2023 in Park City 

Several of Gwyneth’s haute-couture looks helped make the trial a sensation, though Sanderson’s defenders later claimed that the jury was ‘slanted’ against him because of her fame; pictured in March 2023 in Park City

One now-iconic court look featured her in a cream-colored mock turtleneck sweater that she wore with aviator-style glasses.

The cozy casual-cool look was perfect for a trial over an incident that took place on the ski slopes, and the glasses added an haute-couture touch to the ensemble, while also making her glances toward Sanderson in court look particularly withering.

After the verdict was read, she infamously approached the plaintiff to allegedly say, ‘I wish you well,’ which many observers took to be a cold-blooded statement rather than a genuine display of compassion. 

But those eye-catching looks and the attention that they generated also fueled claims that Paltrow’s celebrity had influenced jurors on the trial.

A documentary about the affair that premiered in late 2023 featured an interview with Sanderson’s former partner Karlene Davidson, who said she thought the jury was ‘slanted in their opinions’ by Paltrow’s fame.

‘Park City didn’t want to lose their celebrity status of stars coming in and what they had to offer at Deer Valley,’ she claimed.

She also alleged that part of the reason her relationship with Sanderson ended after the crash was because of a significant personality change, which she took to be evidence that he had suffered a lasting brain injury.