Taylor Swift Files Countersuit Against Radio Host Fired for Backstage Grope
Taylor Swift has filed a countersuit against the Denver radio host who was fired from his job after allegedly inappropriately touching the singer. In the initial lawsuit, David Mueller claimed he was terminated from his job at country music station KYGO two days after the contact occurred during a photo session backstage at Denver’s Pepsi Center. In his wrongful termination suit, Mueller sued Swift and denied that he was the person who grabbed the singer’s buttocks. Swift’s legal team disagreed.
“Mueller’s newfound claim that he is the ‘wrong guy’ and, therefore, his termination from KYGO was unjustified, is specious,” Swift’s attorneys wrote in the counterclaim (via The Associated Press). “Ms. Swift knows exactly who committed the assault. It was Mueller.” Swift’s lawyers added that she was “surprised, upset, offended and alarmed” by the grope.
In Mueller’s suit, the former radio host did not deny that the inappropriate contact happened; instead, he blamed the buttock grab on one of his co-workers. According to Mueller’s lawsuit, the co-worker approached Mueller backstage at the Denver concert and “described and demonstrated how [he] had put his arms around her, hands on her bottom” while taking a photo with the singer. Mueller’s suit also accused Swift’s security team of verbally abusing him and his girlfriend.
However, following the incident, KYGO was presented with enough evidence against Mueller that he was fired two days later, Swift’s reps said after Mueller filed his lawsuit in September. If Swift were to win her countersuit, she has promised to donate the money to charities “dedicated to protecting women from similar acts of sexual assault and personal disregard.”