Taylor Swift Testifies: ‘He Grabbed My Ass Underneath My Skirt’
Taylor Swift testified in a Denver court Thursday, saying that she was “completely sure” former radio host David Mueller sexually assaulted her during a 2013 press photo. Swift appeared on the stand for roughly an hour, CNN reports, after her mother Andrea Swift also testified about the alleged incident.
“It was a definite grab … A very long grab. He grabbed my ass underneath my skirt,” Swift said on the stand. She called the 2013 incident “horrifying and shocking.”
The singer asserted that Mueller grabbed her on purpose, rejecting Mueller’s claim that their interaction was random or rushed. “This was not jostling. We were perfectly in position for the photograph to be taken,” said Swift. “What Mr. Mueller did was very intentional.” Swift said that at the time, she continued the meet-and-greet because she didn’t want to disappoint her fans. She said she first mentioned the alleged groping to her photographer, Stephanie Simbeck, 15 minutes after it occurred.
Swift added she had no reaction to learning that Mueller had been fired for the alleged behavior. “I’m not going to allow you or your client to make me feel in anyway that this is my fault because it isn’t,” she said. “I am being blamed for the unfortunate events of his life that are a product of his decisions and not mine.”
On Tuesday, Mueller testified saying that he never touched Swift. In the photo, it appears Mueller’s hand was placed near Swift’s backside. Mueller said he may have accidentally touched Swift’s body while he was trying to get in the photo.
“My hand came into contact with part of her body,” Mueller said. “I felt what appeared to be a ribcage or rib. … And it went behind her, and her hand, or arm, went behind my arm.” Swift later countered: “He did not touch my rib, he did not touch my hand, he grabbed my bare ass,” per Buzzfeed.
Swift’s mother, Andrea Swift, testified in court Wednesday, recalling how she reacted after her daughter told her Mueller had groped her during that 2013 meet-and-greet. “I was upset to the extent that I was feeling like I wanted to vomit and cry at the same time,” she said.
“He sexually assaulted her,” Swift’s mother said, pointing to Mueller. “Right there. That guy. I heard it from my daughter’s mouth. I know that it happened.”
The legal battle has occurred for nearly two years after the radio DJ sued Swift, her mother and her radio promotions director Frank Bell, in 2015, alleging that they had pressured KYGO to fire him following the 2013 accusation of sexual misconduct. (He admitted Tuesday that various supervisors at KYGO had discussed the possibility of letting him go prior to his encounter with Swift.)
Swift filed a countersuit one month later accusing Mueller of sexual assault for reaching under her dress and grabbing her bottom while they posed for the photo. The civil trial is expected to last nine days.