A jury dismissed the complaint of a retired optometrist who sued Paltrow over injuries he sustained when the two crashed on a beginner run at Deer Valley ski resort, siding with Paltrow after eight days of live-streamed courtroom testimony that made the case a pop culture fixation.

Paltrow, an actor who in recent years has refashioned herself into a celebrity wellness entrepreneur, looked to her attorneys with a pursed lips smile when the judge read the eight-member jury’s verdict in the Park City courtroom. She sat intently through two weeks of testimony in what became the biggest celebrity court case since actors Johnny Depp and Amber Heard faced off last year.

The dismissal concludes two weeks of courtroom proceedings that hinged largely on reputation rather than the monetary damages at stake in the case. Paltrow’s attorneys described the complaint against her as “utter B.S.” and painted the Goop founder-CEO as uniquely vulnerable to unfair, frivolous lawsuits due to her celebrity.

Paltrow took the witness stand during the trial to insist the collision wasn’t her fault, and to describe how she was stunned when she felt “a body pressing against me and a very strange grunting noise.”

4:50
‘I did not cause the accident’: Gwyneth Paltrow testifies in ski collision trial

Advertisement

Throughout the trial, the word “uphill” became synonymous with “guilty, ” as attorneys focused on a largely unknown skiing code of conduct that stipulates that the skier who is downhill or ahead on the slope has the right of way.

Worldwide audiences followed the celebrity trial as if it were episodic television. Viewers scrutinized both Paltrow and Sanderson’s motives while attorneys directed questions to witnesses that often had less to do with the collision and more to do with their client’s reputations.

The trial took place in Park City, a resort town known for hosting the annual Sundance Film Festival, where early in her career Paltrow would appear for the premieres of her movies including 1998’s “Sliding Doors,” at a time when she was known primarily as an actor, not a lifestyle influencer. Paltrow is also known for her roles in “Shakespeare in Love,” which won her an Academy Award, and the “Iron Man” movies.

2:22
Gwyneth Paltrow ski crash trial: Terry Sanderson testifies he was hit in the back by skier, went ‘flying’

Advertisement

The jury’s decision marks a painful court defeat for Terry Sanderson, the man who sued Paltrow for more than $300,000 over injuries he sustained when they crashed on a beginner run. Both parties blamed the other for the collision. Sanderson, 76, broke four ribs and sustained a concussion after the two tumbled down the slope, with Paltrow landing on top of him.

He filed an amended complaint after an earlier $3.1 million lawsuit was dismissed. Paltrow in response countersued for $1 and attorney fees, a symbolic action that mirrors Taylor Swift’s response to a radio host’s defamation lawsuit. Swift was awarded $1 in 2017.

Paltrow’s defense team tried to paint Sanderson as an angry, aging and unsympathetic man who had over the years become “obsessed” with his lawsuit against Paltrow. They argued that Paltrow wasn’t at fault in the crash and also said, regardless of blame, that Sanderson was overstating the extent of his injuries.

AP writer Anna Furman contributed from Los Angeles.

&copy 2023 The Canadian Press

Aniston, who has been working in film and comedy for nearly three decades, told the French news agency AFP that it’s become “a little tricky” to produce comedies because you have to be “very careful.” She said this is especially troubling because “the beauty of comedy is that we make fun of ourselves, make fun of life.”

Aniston, 54, lamented the past when she said: “You could joke about a bigot and have a laugh — that was hysterical. And it was about educating people on how ridiculous people were.”

She used her role as Rachel Green in the 1990s sitcom Friends as an example of how audiences have evolved over the years.

“There’s a whole generation of people, kids, who are now going back to episodes of Friends and find them offensive,” she said.

Aniston blamed the offensiveness on a combination of “things that were never intentional” and elements of the program that just lacked thought.

Friends, a comedy about six young people in New York, has long since been criticized for a lack of diversity. All of the show’s main characters are white. While actors of colour appeared sparsely in short cameo roles, the most prominent, non-white actor on the show, Aisha Tyler (who played Charlie Wheeler), appeared in only nine episodes.

Some of the jokes in friends have also been labelled transphobic or homophobic.

Co-creator of the sitcom, Marta Kauffman, said last year she was “embarrassed” and felt “guilt” over the lack of diversity in Friends.

“It’s painful looking at yourself in the mirror. I’m embarrassed that I didn’t know better 25 years ago,” Kauffman told the Los Angeles Times.

Friends ran from 1994 to 2004. It is one of the most profitable sitcoms ever created, bringing in reportedly US$1.4 billion since its initial debut.

As a result of increased sensitivity, Aniston said less comedies are being made today than in decades prior. Not having comedies, she said, is a tragedy.

“Everybody needs funny! The world needs humour!” she said. “We can’t take ourselves too seriously. Especially in the United States. Everyone is far too divided.”

Numerous popular comedians have already complained about producing comedy in the post-woke age. In particular, Dave Chappelle and Chris Rock have been especially outspoken about cancel culture and comedy.

1:52
Comedian Dave Chappelle tackled on stage during Los Angeles show

Advertisement

Advertisement

Still, Aniston charges on. In her latest comedy, Murder Mystery 2, Aniston plays Audrey Spitz, a detective solving the case of a kidnapped billionaire alongside her partner Nick (played by Adam Sandler). Murder Mystery 2 is available to stream on Netflix on Friday.

&copy 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.