Thursday, August 10, 2017

GropeGate: Swift's Mom Felt Like 'I Wanted To Vomit'

  • Andrea Swift sobbed as she told the court how she felt sick when daughter Taylor told her she was 'groped' by Denver DJ David Mueller
  • Mueller was cross examined in his civil trial versus Taylor Swift at the Alfred A. Arraj Courthouse in Denver
  • He said a photo of him that shows his hand behind Swift during a photo op was 'weird and awkward' but denies it was groping
  • The trial was delayed for two hours  Wednesday as the legal teams met in a side room to talk in private about evidence 
  • Swift showed up to court wearing a white dress, black jacket and a pair of nude pumps
  • Mueller accused Swift of fabricating an incident where he allegedly groped her in 2013 which caused him to be fired and is suing for $3 million 
  • Swift counter-sued the DJ for assault and battery in response, saying he put his hand up her dress 



Recording star Taylor Swift's mother testified on Wednesday that she became sick to her stomach when she learned her daughter had been groped during a pre-concert photo shoot four years ago but decided against calling police to avoid publicity.

"I did not want this event to define her life," Andrea Swift said in the second day of testimony in a federal court trial stemming from the Grammy-winning singer's allegation that a Denver DJ fondled her bare buttocks at the picture-taking session.

Reuters is reporting Swift's mother, who serves as part of her daughter's management team, told jurors that one specific worry was the prospect that the photo taken with the radio personality in question, David Mueller, might end up going viral and even being doctored in a lewd way.

"I was very upset ... I felt like I wanted to vomit," Andrea Smith, 59, testified when asked to recall her reaction to her daughter telling her that she had been groped at a reception for her fans before a June 2013 concert in Denver.

"'Mom, a guy just grabbed my ass at the meet-and-greet,'" she recounted her daughter telling her moments after the alleged incident.

Asked if she had sought out witnesses to the incident, the mother said she had no reason to doubt her daughter's account.

"He sexually assaulted my daughter, right there, that guy," Andrea Swift said as she pointed her finger at Mueller, who was seated less than 20 feet away. "I heard it from my daughter's mouth. I know that it happened."

According to the 27-year-old recording artist, Mueller slipped his hand under her dress and grabbed her as the two posed, along with Mueller's girlfriend, during the picture-taking session.

Mueller testified on Tuesday that he may have made incidental physical contact with Swift, perhaps brushing her arm or torso. But asked by his own lawyer whether he had grabbed Swift's backside, Mueller said flatly, "No, I did not."

Swift has been present for the proceedings every day since jury selection began on Monday, entering and exiting the courthouse through an undisclosed passageway that has allowed her to avoid media camped outside the building.

According to The Denver Post, Andrea Swift said she knew if the allegations became public, the incident would dominate every interview Swift gave. She also feared internet trolls would use the incident to embarrass her daughter by Photoshopping “funny things,” into pictures of the superstar.

Under questioning from Mueller’s lawyer, Gabe McFarland, she said that she felt Mueller should be fired. But she never suggested that anyone on her management team should demand his dismissal.

Frank Bell, who handles radio promotion for Swift, said several people, including the photographer who took the picture, told him that it was obvious that something unusual happened when Mueller had his picture taken with the singer.

Andrea Swift, Bell said, “wanted to make sure that Mr. Mueller was fired, that he was no longer working there.”

He called Bob Call, market manager for KYGO’s parent Lincoln Financial Media, before 8 a.m. the next morning and told him about the incident. He told Call that he wanted it investigated, and appropriate action taken.

But he never demanded that Mueller be fired, he said.

Depiction of Swift as Mueller Testifies
During Wednesday's testimony, David Mueller acknowledge was fired from two jobs prior to his termination by KYGO.  And although KYGO fired him when there were only five months left on his two-year contract, valued at about $320,000, his lawsuit suggests his compensation for the wages he lost should be $3 million.

According to The Denver Post, the 55-year-old Mueller was fired from KDWB in Minneapolis seven years before he joined the Denver radio station. The Minneapolis station fired him because they were dissatisfied that he continued to work at a business he formed called 9 Ball Radio, which provided content to radio stations.

Swift’s lawyer J. Douglas Baldridge, also questioned Mueller about being fired from a Kansas City radio station.

He was fired “without cause,” and KRBZ bought him out, Mueller said.

Mueller maintains that although he applied at top 20 market radio stations after he was fired, he was unable to find new job following Swift’s allegation and being fired from KYGO.

Baldridge asked Mueller why he hadn’t applied at stations that weren’t in the top 20, and Mueller said he did apply at a few.

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