Over the weekend, Taylor Swift likely asked herself, "Why am I involved in this now?". During Gwyneth Paltrow's skiing accident trial on March 24, plaintiff's attorney Kristin VanOrman asked her if she was friends with the 12-time Grammy winner , Swift was surprisingly mentioned. “I wouldn’t say we’re good friends,” the Goop founder responded. "We're friendly; I've taken my kids to one of her concerts before, but we don't talk much."
Van Orman represents retired ophthalmologist Terry Sanderson, who is suing Paltrow for $300,000 over a February 2016 skiing accident, alleging Paltrow Hit him from behind and left the scene. Sanderson claimed in the lawsuit that Paltrow's hit-and-run incident left him with a brain injury, broken ribs and "a loss of joy in life."
So what does this have to do with Swift? The answer lies in Paltrow's response to the lawsuit. She countersued Sanderson, asking for just a dollar in damages, much like how Swift successfully countersued former radio DJ David Mueller over sexual assault accusations and received a token dollar in damages. Van Orman asked Paltrow about the similarities in their trials, asking if she knew anything about Swift's case before she countersued. "I didn't know that at the time," she replied.
After asking about the status of their friendship, Van Orman hilariously asked, "Have you never given Ms. Swift a personal, intimate Christmas gift?" She seemed to be referring to a 2021 Goop holiday video in which Paltrow prepared gifts for various celebrities and slipped a vibrator into Swift's gift bag. It was obviously a humorous joke, but the judge stopped asking before Paltrow could give an equally funny answer.
Of course, that didn't stop Twitter from mocking Swift's mention of the trial, creating some hilarious memes while also pointing out the stark differences between Paltrow's and Swift's cases.
While there's no evidence that Paltrow and Swift are actually "good friends," they've actually spent more time than her court statements would have you believe, posing for photos together at multiple events over the years. The singer was seen visiting Paltrow at her London home in 2013, and reportedly danced with her at her birthday party in 2016. Paltrow even called Swift her "little buddy" during an Instagram Story Q&A in May 2022 and shared a photo of them from the 2020 Golden Globe Awards. "@taylorswift has been my little friend for years but we kept putting it on the dl," she wrote, along with a boo emoji.
Paltrow did take her son Moses to Swift's London concert in 2015 and even gave her a sweet like on Instagram. "#TaylorSwift thank you for giving me and my little man the best date night ever," she wrote, alongside a photo of Swift with her arms around mother and son. Swift has yet to comment on the matter, but if her ambiguous friendship with Paltrow is any indication, she may be backing her for her own token dollar.
