it’s been a stellar year on TV for the most moreish of genres: rich people being down, acting up or (preferably) doing both. Succession, The Fall Of The House Of Usher, Beef, the Harry & Meghan documentary – our appetite for the woes of the 1% is apparently insatiable. One superlative addition to the canon, perhaps this year’s finest, played out not in a Manhattan penthouse or Californian mansion – but in a Utah courtroom. Not a TV show, but essential viewing nonetheless; there was no showrunner or big-name director; but there was, however, an Oscar winner (slash wellness mogul).
This was, of course, when Gwyneth Paltrow found herself embroiled in a legal he said/she said, in a civil case brought by septuagenarian retired optometrist Terry Sanderson. The York Notes top-line refresh, if you need it: following a collision on the slopes of the posh Deer Valley Resort in 2016, Sanderson had sued the Goop-founder for liability with a claim of $3m – knocked down to $300,000 pre-trial. She had in turn countersued for $1. Paltrow won.
None of that was what made it the celebrity court case/TV event of the year, however. Despite the fact it wasn’t scripted, the trial turned up some Jesse Armstrong-grade zingers. There was the much-memed, ‘Well, we lost half a day skiing,’ – Paltrow’s summation of the ‘losses’ she’d suffered. There were the bizarre little exchanges between her and Sanderson’s attorney, Kristin VanOrman, involving everything from Taylor Swift (‘I would not say we are good friends. We are friendly’) to Paltrow’s height (‘just under 5ft 10’) which evoked a strange moment that read more huns’ brunch than court case.
‘I am so jealous!’ cooed VanOrman.
Paltrow: ‘I think I’m shrinking, though.’
VanOrman: ‘I have to wear four-inch heels just to make it to 5ft 5.’
Paltrow: ‘They’re very nice.’
But the case’s most memorable line came right at the end – a very satisfying little sign-off for those of us who had been hooked. It was delivered by Paltrow to Sanderson following the unanimous verdict in her favour: ‘I wish you well.’ Surely, the most withering stealth put- down since ‘recollections may vary’.
Airing at the same time as Succession’s final season, the trial captured the imagination for another reason: quiet luxury. Those two words stalked the fashion zeitgeist for months in 2023, and Paltrow arguably set it into play with her Utah court ’fits. Whereas the celebrity trial normally involves a hefty serving of The Good Wife cosplay mixed with retro flight attendant uniforms, Paltrow inhabited the kind of expensive effortlessness of the born-to-do-it privileged class. There she was in her neutral palette of biscuit and butter and slate and sage, the tailoring soft, the textures tactile, and the brands very, very expensive. The Row, Ralph Lauren, Celine were mixed with designs from her own G.Label by Goop. Glasses on, Smythson agenda in hand, hair perfectly (ie, professionally) tousled, she inhabited a kind of studious, sensible glamour. Aspirational while still feeling attainable – despite being, you know, really not – Paltrow in Utah really kicked off the quiet luxury movement. A chunky knit isn’t intimidating! Look, GP is wearing flats! Swapping contacts for wire-framed aviators is something any of us could try!
One of the reasons why Paltrow continues to captivate is that she so steadily embodies her brand with a complete absence of inhibition. She is refreshing in that she never pretends to be normal. Her 1%-ness and her lofty cool are part of brand Paltrow and ergo Goop (valued at over $250m). The launch of good.clean.goop, a more affordable beauty line, at Amazon and Target this year showed that both Paltrow and Goop – for they are inextricably connected – have mass appeal. GP knows exactly who she is, has never denied what she is or tried to be anything else – apart from, that is, when she is on-the-clock in her other job, as an actor.
That kind of priceless, consistent messaging came across in the trial. Which is why – positive verdict aside – in the era of the messy, gloves-off celebrity trial, Paltrow really came out on top. You can see it in every tight, polite smile, every arched eyebrow, every firm but gentle answer. GP is GP.
Rebekah Vardy would have done well to take notes. I wish you well.