File photo of Taylor Swift during a concert in Austin (Image courtesy: AFP)
Washington:
Taylor Swift testified in a Denver federal court Thursday about a 2013 incident in which she alleges former radio DJ David Mueller groped her during a meet-and-greet she held for fans before a concert. USA Today reported that Swift spent just over an hour on the stand, where she said that Mueller "grabbed my a- underneath my skirt."
"It was a definite grab. A very long grab," Swift said.
Swift alleges that Mueller, formerly a host for Denver's country radio station KYGO, grabbed her as she posed for a photo alongside him and his girlfriend Shannon Melcher ahead of her sold-out concert at Denver's Pepsi Center.
In a deposition, Swift said that Mueller "took his hand and put it up my dress and grabbed onto my a- cheek and no matter how much I scooted over it was still there."
"It was completely intentional," she added. "I've never been so sure of anything in my life.
The trial, which began Monday, is the latest event in a drawn-out legal battle between Swift and Mueller.
Mueller sued Swift in 2015, claiming that her accusation got him fired from KYGO. In his lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Denver, Mueller claimed the allegations were false, according to People. Mueller, seeking up to $3 million in damages, said that it was in fact his co-worker, Eddie Haskell, who had grabbed the singer. Swift countersued Mueller a month later, accusing him of assault and battery.
"Ms. Swift knows exactly who committed the assault - it was Mueller - and she is not confused in the slightest about whether her long-term business acquaintance, Mr. Haskell, was the culprit," the countersuit stated, according to People. "Resolution of this counterclaim will demonstrate that Mueller alone was the perpetrator of the humiliating and wrongful conduct targeted against Ms. Swift, and will serve as an example to other women who may resist publicly reliving similar outrageous and humiliating acts."
During the trial Thursday, Swift was repeatedly asked about how confident she was in her allegations.
"It happened to me. He had a handful of my a-. It happened to me. I know it was him," she said according to People. "I didn't need a picture. I could have picked him out of a line of a thousand."
The photo of Swift, Mueller and Melcher was not publicly released, but was shown to the eight-member jury during opening statements, according to The Associated Press.
Swift contradicted Mueller's earlier testimony that he had simply "jostled" Swift while posing for the photo, and according to the Denver Post, suggested that he may have touched her rib cage, but not her buttocks.
"He did not touch my rib, he did not touch my hand, he didn't touch my arm, he grabbed my bare a-," Swift testified.
Buzzfeed reported that Swift appeared agitated by several questions from Mueller's legal team. In one instance, Swift was asked if she could see the incident directly. Swift responded that she couldn't because her "a- is in the back of (her) body."
Swift was also asked whether she blamed her former bodyguard, Greg Dent, who was present at the time the photo was taken, for failing to stop the alleged assault.
"I'm critical of your client sticking his hand under my skirt and grabbing my a-," Swift said.
People reported that Swift was also asked if she has watched police procedural shows. "Yes!" she replied. "I named my cat after Detective Olivia Benson from 'Law and Order: SVU.'"
Swift's testimony comes a day after her mother, Andrea Swift, took the stand, where she said she "wanted to vomit and cry at the same time" when her daughter told her she had been groped. According to People, Andrea Swift testified that the singer was "really shaken, she was humiliated, she was horribly embarrassed."
Andrea Swift also said that they did not report the alleged assault to the police out of privacy concerns.
"I did not want every interview from now on to have to make her include what happened to her. I did not want her to have to live through the endless memes and GIFs that tabloid media and Internet trolls would come up with," the singer's mother said on the stand. "We absolutely wanted to keep this private, but we did not want him to get away with it."
Swift is asking for $1 in her countersuit, according to Buzzfeed, which describes the amount as a "symbolic gesture" meant to inspire other women to stand up for themselves.
Swift remained steadfast despite repeated questioning from Mueller's legal team and noted that her story has not change since the alleged incident.
"You can ask me a million questions about it and I'm never going to say something different," Swift said, according to People. "I never have said anything different."
© 2017, The Washington Post
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
"It was a definite grab. A very long grab," Swift said.
Swift alleges that Mueller, formerly a host for Denver's country radio station KYGO, grabbed her as she posed for a photo alongside him and his girlfriend Shannon Melcher ahead of her sold-out concert at Denver's Pepsi Center.
In a deposition, Swift said that Mueller "took his hand and put it up my dress and grabbed onto my a- cheek and no matter how much I scooted over it was still there."
"It was completely intentional," she added. "I've never been so sure of anything in my life.
The trial, which began Monday, is the latest event in a drawn-out legal battle between Swift and Mueller.
Mueller sued Swift in 2015, claiming that her accusation got him fired from KYGO. In his lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Denver, Mueller claimed the allegations were false, according to People. Mueller, seeking up to $3 million in damages, said that it was in fact his co-worker, Eddie Haskell, who had grabbed the singer. Swift countersued Mueller a month later, accusing him of assault and battery.
"Ms. Swift knows exactly who committed the assault - it was Mueller - and she is not confused in the slightest about whether her long-term business acquaintance, Mr. Haskell, was the culprit," the countersuit stated, according to People. "Resolution of this counterclaim will demonstrate that Mueller alone was the perpetrator of the humiliating and wrongful conduct targeted against Ms. Swift, and will serve as an example to other women who may resist publicly reliving similar outrageous and humiliating acts."
During the trial Thursday, Swift was repeatedly asked about how confident she was in her allegations.
"It happened to me. He had a handful of my a-. It happened to me. I know it was him," she said according to People. "I didn't need a picture. I could have picked him out of a line of a thousand."
The photo of Swift, Mueller and Melcher was not publicly released, but was shown to the eight-member jury during opening statements, according to The Associated Press.
Swift contradicted Mueller's earlier testimony that he had simply "jostled" Swift while posing for the photo, and according to the Denver Post, suggested that he may have touched her rib cage, but not her buttocks.
"He did not touch my rib, he did not touch my hand, he didn't touch my arm, he grabbed my bare a-," Swift testified.
Buzzfeed reported that Swift appeared agitated by several questions from Mueller's legal team. In one instance, Swift was asked if she could see the incident directly. Swift responded that she couldn't because her "a- is in the back of (her) body."
Swift was also asked whether she blamed her former bodyguard, Greg Dent, who was present at the time the photo was taken, for failing to stop the alleged assault.
"I'm critical of your client sticking his hand under my skirt and grabbing my a-," Swift said.
People reported that Swift was also asked if she has watched police procedural shows. "Yes!" she replied. "I named my cat after Detective Olivia Benson from 'Law and Order: SVU.'"
Swift's testimony comes a day after her mother, Andrea Swift, took the stand, where she said she "wanted to vomit and cry at the same time" when her daughter told her she had been groped. According to People, Andrea Swift testified that the singer was "really shaken, she was humiliated, she was horribly embarrassed."
Andrea Swift also said that they did not report the alleged assault to the police out of privacy concerns.
"I did not want every interview from now on to have to make her include what happened to her. I did not want her to have to live through the endless memes and GIFs that tabloid media and Internet trolls would come up with," the singer's mother said on the stand. "We absolutely wanted to keep this private, but we did not want him to get away with it."
Swift is asking for $1 in her countersuit, according to Buzzfeed, which describes the amount as a "symbolic gesture" meant to inspire other women to stand up for themselves.
Swift remained steadfast despite repeated questioning from Mueller's legal team and noted that her story has not change since the alleged incident.
"You can ask me a million questions about it and I'm never going to say something different," Swift said, according to People. "I never have said anything different."
© 2017, The Washington Post
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
