‘We knew she was #gwynnocent’: how the Paltrow trial captivated the world

An astonishing degree of media attention was lavished on a seemingly humdrum ski collision. What made it so compelling?

America and the wider world are not exactly wanting for dramatic headlines. Barricades were erected in New York after Donald Trump’s indictment on criminal charges, in Ukraine a bloody and brutal war grinds on, and in France riots have rocked the government.

Yet, for much of the last two weeks, an astonishing degree of media attention was focused on a small mountain town in Utah for a ski-vacation legal drama that played out against a civil court setting.