Trending 30th March 2023 by Jade Hayden

So, What Has Been Going On With The Gwyneth Paltrow Trial?

The memes, they’re everywhere.

Gwyneth Paltrow is on trial. You might have seen it on the internet somewhere.

The Salt Lake City court case concerns a 2016 incident (yes, 2016) in which Paltrow is accused of “reckless” skiing on a Utah ski slope that left a retired eye doctor with “life altering” injuries. He’s asking for $300,000 in damages for his trouble.

Gwyneth, who is used to being in the news for more innocuous things like creating a candle that smell like her vagina, has denied this claim and is countersuing for $1.

Every day she’s been showing up to court, and every day she’s been countering this doctor’s claims. And every day, without fail, she is making it clear that she does not care about this trial.

The plaintiff says that the incident, in which Gwyneth allegedly caused a crash on the Deer Valley ski slopes, left him with headaches, personality changes and the inability to enjoy wine tastings anymore. Gwyneth says that she “lost half a day of skiing” and had to get a massage afterwards.

The entire trial has proven itself to be a farce, emphasised by the fact that the event has been playing out across social media since it began. Add in a lawyer who seems to be as interested in fawning over Gwyneth as she is with questioning her, an irrelevant Taylor Swift reference, and Gwyneth’s team asking if they could bring the bailiffs “treats” (what treats????) to say thank you, and you’ve got a trial that is sure to go down in history simply because of how ridiculous it is.

And then there’s the ‘fits. Generally, a woman’s taste in clothes should have nothing to do with her engagement in a court case, but this case is different – because Gwyneth is serving.

One day she wore a Goop knit, the next she donned some Celine boots and RayBans, the next she arrived in a double breasted blazer and a $25,000 dollar necklace.

Almost every day she has sauntered into the courtroom as if she’s taking a jaunt in the park on a summer’s day, juice in hand, Smythson notebook on display. Gwyneth is acting like a woman without a care in the world, because she is one.

Celebrity trials have long harboured the fascination of the public. Who could forget Winona Ryder’s shoplifting conviction of 2002, or the more recent, distasteful circus that became of Amber Heard and Johnny Depp’s defamation suit?

We like seeing celebrities outside of the box they frequently lock themselves inside, and at least in this case, TikTokers aren’t making fan edits of a trial detailing serious abuse allegations.

So who will win? Can Gwyneth convince a judge that she didn’t crash into that retired eye doctor? Can the retired eye doctor convince a jury that Gwyneth is the cause of his ailments? Will Gwyneth actually ask for that $1 if she wins? Does it even matter?

To many, it doesn’t – but to the internet, it really does. At least until we find something else to become memeified.

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