DENVER (CN) — “It was a definite grab, a very long grab,” Taylor Swift testified Thursday at the trial of a former DJ she accuses of groping her before a concert. “It was long enough for me to be completely sure it was intentional.”
Under direct examination by David Mueller’s attorney Gabriel McFarland, Swift called the incident “horrifying, shocking.” She said Mueller groped her butt under her skirt during a photo op before a June 2013 concert at the Pepsi Center in Denver.
Mueller sued Swift for defamation and interference with contract after her team complained to his employer, KYGO radio, which fired him. Swift countersued for assault and battery. The trial of both civil cases began this week before a jury of six women and two men in Denver County Court.
Swift says Mueller groped her as they stood together for a photo. That photo, which was studied meticulously in court this week, shows Swift standing with a large gap between herself and Mueller. Swift and Mueller’s girlfriend, Shannon Melcher, stand close enough that their arms and hands cannot be seen.
Swift testified Thursday that she “lurched” away from Mueller as the photo was taken.
“The first couple of milliseconds, I thought it must be a mistake,” she said.
“It was a very shocking thing that I have never dealt with before. He grabbed my ass underneath my skirt.”
Mueller claims he touched Swift’s ribs while awkwardly posing for the photo — an explanation Swift categorically rejected, saying his groping was “intentional.”
She said that when it happened, a “light switched off in my personality.”
“I couldn’t look at either one of them. I just said in a monotone, ‘Thank you for coming.’”
When all the fans in line at the meet and greet were gone, Swift testified, she told the members of her team in the room: “That dude just grabbed my ass.”
Her photographer replied: “I know exactly which one you’re talking about,” Swift said.
Attorney McFarland asked Swift if she was disappointed in her security guard, Greg Dent, who had not reacted or stopped the encounter.
Swift replied: “I’m critical of your client sticking his hand under my skirt and grabbing my ass. “It was horrifying, shocking.”
Mueller testified this week that the photo had been “awkward,” and that he had to “slide in” at the last minute to get into a pose.
Swift said she didn’t buy it.
“We got into photo formation. It’s really easy. You just stand there,” she said.
She rejected Mueller’s testimony that there had been “jostling” to get ready for the photo.
“This was not jostling. There was no diving into the picture. We were perfectly in place. … This was not an action shot.”
Mueller has demanded $3 million from Swift, claiming his firing from KYGO cost him that much in lost wages, earning capacity and damage to his reputation.
Swift rejected that. Losing his job, she said, was “a product of his decisions, not mine.”
“I’m not going to let you or your client make me feel like this is my fault,” she told McFarland.
