Gwyneth Paltrow at her ski crash trial in Utah. Right: Michael "Fletch" Fletcher discussing the trial.
Gwyneth Paltrow's lawyers might want to brush up on their basic internet skills, after a Reddit user watching her ski crash trial uncovered a not-so-secret group chat that everyone else missed.
Paltrow, 50, is being sued for a 2016 incident at a ski resort in Utah, where she collided with retired doctor Terry Sanderson, 76. Sanderson is seeking $300,000 for the injuries he suffered after Paltrow allegedly pulled a "hit-and-run" move that left him with brain damage.
Paltrow has said that Sanderson ran into her and that he's trying to use her fame to his advantage. She's also suing him back for $1 plus legal fees.
Michael "Fletch" Fletcher, a Reddit user who has been watching the case on Court TV, recently dug into a bit of evidence presented in court and followed up on a link that no one else had apparently investigated. Paltrow's lawyers suspected the link might lead to missing GoPro footage that might show who is responsible for the crash, but neither side could figure out how to log in.
"They kept repeating that it was the most important piece of evidence and they couldn't figure it out," Fletch told Court TV in a recent interview. "They had no idea how to open the link, so I thought I'd just check it out."
Fletcher got the link from the trial, logged into Meetup, and then followed it. The link brought him to a private Meetup group where he found "Very Terry" Sanderson and several others talking about what happened on the day of the crash. It didn't include the missing GoPro footage, but it does show that it took a few days for Paltrow's name to come up.
"Honestly, it's comical how easy it was," Fletch said. "I can't believe they didn't do this already. It's almost a joke." He added that it took him "about 2 minutes" to figure it out and then send the info to Paltrow's lawyers.
Court TV Viewer Uncovers Key Evidence in Platrow Ski Crash Case. Court TV | Youtube
One of the other skiers, Craig Ramon, says in the chat that he saw the collision firsthand but does not mention Paltrow right away.
"Terry was knocked out cold," he wrote. "Bad hit to the head! Not to(o) sure if Terry has broken ribs. I did see the hit. Terry did not know his name."
"The concussion is causing some rather bizarre physical and personality issues unlike anything I've ever faced before," Sanderson replied.
Sanderson has since told the court that he suffered broken ribs, brain damage and a personality change as a result of the crash.
Five days after those messages went up, Ramon returned to the chat with more details about the crash. He also identified Paltrow by name, which he did not do in his first comments about the incident.
"You cannot make this up. Gwyneth took out Terry last week," he wrote. "What makes me mad is that Gwyneth took out Terry and just took off."
Craig Ramon | Meetup
Paltrow's lawyers say that an email from Sanderson's daughter mentions the Meetup and potential GoPro footage shot by another witness. Her lawyers argue that Sanderson deleted the video because it would contradict his claims in the case, per the Independent . Sanderson says there was no footage.
Ramon and Sanderson's daughter have both already testified in court. Ramon said that he saw Paltrow crash into Sanderson and that it was her fault.
So what does the missing group chat mean?
That's up to the lawyers to sort out, but you can review the old group chat yourself if you want. All you need is a Meetup account to login.
The issue came up in court on Tuesday and the judge basically roasted both sides for not spotting something that was "equally available" to everyone.
Fletch has been messing around in there recently by posting a photo of himself and jumping into the comments.
"Fletch was here!!! Hah!!!" he wrote on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Redditors have been laughing at the lawyers on both sides of the case for failing to dig into these details.
"HOW did two legal teams miss this? Is this an age thing???" wrote one user.
Paltrow has already taken the stand in the case and the trial is ongoing.
