Taylor Swift alleges that a former radio host, David Mueller, groped her during a fan meet-and-greet in 2013. On Wednesday, she filed a countersuit against him; he filed a lawsuit against her in September, claiming he was falsely accused.
The alleged incident occurred during a photo session backstage before Swift played Denver’s Pepsi Center during her Red Tour on June 2, 2013.
According to the countersuit filed by Swift:
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. Mueller did not merely brush his hand against Ms. Swift while posing for the photograph: he lifted her skirt and groped her.
Swift “was surprised, upset, offended, and alarmed” by Mueller’s actions, the the counterclaim goes on. “This event caused her extreme anxiety because she did not know that Mueller, or anyone else, would grope her private and intimate body part, during an event to which she opened access to her fans and radio personnel as a show of her appreciation.”
According to NME, Swift has requested a jury trial and says any financial reward from the lawsuit would be donated to charities “dedicated to protecting women from similar acts of sexual assault and personal disregard.”
The documents also detail Swift’s “constant respect for the radio stations” and the fact that she has posed for “countless” photographs with fans and industry insiders. “She has held thousands of meet and greet events for both fans and radio station personnel. In those thousands of events, she has been inappropriately groped one time — by Mueller — a radio personality.”
As soon as Mueller — and his girlfriend, who accompanied him for the photo op — left the room, Swift, “shocked and understandably distressed,” reported the incident to her photographer, tour manager and security. Her concert went forward as scheduled.
A member of Swift’s management team allegedly complained to Mueller’s supervisor, Eddie Haskell; after hearing those complaints, Haskell “suspended Mueller pending investigation of the allegations.” Later, Scott Borchetta (founder, president and CEO of Big Machine, Swift’s label) called Haskell “to voice concerns over the allegations and explain the emotional condition of Ms. Swift’s mother,” at which point Haskell informed Borchetta that Mueller had already been suspended.
In Mueller’s version of events, as described in court documents, he stood “a few feet away” from Swift while they made small talk until Swift “suddenly announced it was picture time” and put her arm around Mueller’s girlfriend. Mueller “jumped into the photograph at the last second.”
Once he left the arena, Mueller alleges, he ran into his boss, Haskell, who “described and demonstrated how he had put his arms around her, hands on her bottom” and talked about how Swift “must wear bicycle shorts under her stage outfits.” Mueller maintains he did not engage in any inappropriate conduct and that allegations to the contrary are “nonsense.”
Mueller had been working in radio for more than twenty years. Court documents indicate that he was hired by KYGO in January 2013 on a two-year contract, earning $150,000 a year with the potential for bonuses and appearance fees.
In her countersuit, Swift dismisses Mueller’s “newfound claim that he is the ‘wrong guy.’” She “knows exactly who committed the assault. It was Mueller.”