Aug. 10 (UPI) — Taylor Swift‘s mother Andrea Swift appeared in court Wednesday to testify in a civil case that a former Colorado DJ David Mueller groped her daughter during a backstage photo-op in 2013.
The lawsuit, filed by Mueller, known on-air in Denver as “Jackson,” states that Swift and co-defendants, including her mother, have falsely accused him of lifting the pop star’s skirt during the photo-op and grabbing her bottom which lead to his firing from KYGO radio.
“I knew what happened, I heard it from her. I heard it from my daughter’s mouth. He sexually assaulted her, right there, that guy,” Andrea said on the stand while pointing at Mueller, NBC News reported. Andrea was not present at the time the photo was taken but was told by Taylor afterwards what happened.
After hearing Swift’s side of the story, Andrea stated that she wanted to vomit and cry. “We were shocked. … We felt it was imperative we let his employers know what happened. … We did not want him to get away with it,” Andrea continued about how Swift’s team contacted KYGO about the incident, ABC News reported.
Andrea added that Taylor never directed anyone to fire Mueller. “He committed a sexual assault on my daughter. I wanted them [KYGO] to make their own conclusion,” she said. When asked why the police were never called to report the incident, Andrea said “We didn’t want it to be public.”
Taylor’s radio promotions director Frank Bell also took the stand Wednesday and stated that Andrea asked him to inform KYGO about what they said happened and “make sure that Mr. Mueller was fired,” however, Bell said he only told the general manager of KYGO to look into things.
Mueller stated previously that he was fired after Bell told KYGO general manager Bob Call that Taylor and her parents were “looking for specific action” to be taken by the station.
Mueller testified on Tuesday and continued to deny that he touched Taylor inappropriately. He said that during the photo, which also included his girlfriend at the time, that his right hand, in a closed fist with his palm down, came into contact with Taylor’s rib cage. “I felt what seemed to be a rib case or ribs,” he said, CNN reported.
The photo featuring Taylor and Mueller was leaked online last year and features Muller’s right hand hidden behind the pop star’s lower back. “If you look at that photo, his hand is not underneath her skirt. It’s not ruffled, rumbled, affected in any form or fashion,” Muller’s attorney Gabriel McFarland said, and also called the photo “awkward.”
The meeting between Swift and Mueller took place during Swift’s concert at the Pepsi Center on June 2, 2013. Mueller attended the show with his then girlfriend Shannon Melcher who also worked at KYGO. The pair met Swift during a backstage meet and greet.
“In the course of his meet and greet with Ms. Swift, Mueller intentionally reached under her skirt, and groped with his hand an intimate part of her body in an inappropriate manner, against her will, and without her permission,” Taylor’s countersuit filed in Oct. 2015 reads. “Mueller did not merely brush his hand against Ms. Swift while posing for the photograph; he lifted her skirt and groped her.”
