Denver Radio: David Mueller Accuses Taylor Swift Of Slander

David Mueller

Taylor Swift has been accused of slander in an on-going legal battle with a former radio DJ who supposedly groped her backstage at a concert in 2013.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the pop star and the former KYGO 98.5 FM personality David Mueller have been trading legal blows for months.

Mueller claims he was fired from his job after Taylor Swift falsely accused him of groping her at a backstage meet-and-greet, and now he’s saying she has slandered him during their legal battle.

In June 2013, Mueller attended a backstage meet-and-greet with Swift, along with his girlfriend/co-worker Shannon Melcher. The couple took a photo with the superstar and later that night a member of Swift’s security team approached Mueller and accused him of touching her inappropriately.

Mueller was fired from KYGO in Denver two days after the concert, according to his complaint, and sued Swift in September.

Taylor Swift

“The contention that Mr. Mueller lifted up Ms. Swift’s skirt and grabbed her bottom, while standing with his girlfriend, in front of Ms. Swift’s photographer and Ms. Swift’s highly trained security personnel, during a company-sponsored, VIP, backstage meet-and-greet, is nonsense,” wrote Mueller’s attorney M. Gabriel McFarland in the amended complaint.

Swift countersued for assault and battery in October, seeking damages arising from “the undisputed fact that a sexual assault was committed against” her.

Mueller claims his then-boss Eddie Haskell bragged about grabbing Swift’s buttocks that night and told him “he and one of his friends in the industry think Ms. Swift must wear bicycle shorts under her stage outfits.”

Swift’s countersuit says she knows exactly who committed the assault.

In an amended complaint filed last Thursday, Mueller added two slander claims to his arsenal, claiming Swift’s statements are false and have caused harm to his reputation, profession and standing in the community.

Both sides have said the photograph in question proves their point.

Mueller contends Swift is smiling and hugging Melcher and, while his hand is behind Swift and not visible, “it is clear her skirt is in place and is not being lifted by Mr. Mueller’s hand,” while Swift’s complaint says simply “the image depicted in the photograph of Ms. Swift with Melcher and Mueller speaks for itself.”

Swift requested a jury trial and stated that from the lawsuit would be donated to charities “dedicated to protecting women from similar acts of sexual assault and personal disregard”.

Mueller, who has worked in radio for 20 years, went by the name 'Jackson' on the 'Ryno and Jackson' morning show on KYGO-FM, where he says his base annual salary was $150,000.