DJ in groping case says he may have touched Swift’s ribs
DENVER — A former radio disc jockey accused of groping Taylor Swift before a concert testified Tuesday he may have touched the pop superstar’s ribs with a closed hand as he tried to jump into a photo with her but insisted he did not touch her backside as she claims.
David Mueller told jurors at the civil trial on dueling lawsuits filed by Mueller and Swift that he and the singer-songwriter were trying to reach around one another and “our hands touched and our arms touched” during a photo opportunity he estimated lasted no more than 40 seconds.
Under questioning by his attorney, Mueller said he may have touched Swift’s “rib cage, or rib, or ribs.”
The 2013 photo of Swift, Mueller and Mueller’s girlfriend taken at the pre-concert event in Denver is a key piece of evidence in Mueller’s suit claiming he was fired after being falsely accused by Swift. He is seeking at least $3 million.
The photo shows Mueller with his hand behind Swift, just below her waist. Both are smiling.
Her lawyers have called the photo “damning” proof that Mueller groped her.
Mueller’s lawyer, Gabriel McFarland, showed jurors the photograph during his opening remarks. Two jurors stared at the photo on their computer monitors while a few others kept glancing at it as McFarland spoke.
“If you look at that photograph, his hand is not underneath Miss Swift’s skirt, and her skirt is not rumpled in any fashion,” McFarland said, noting that no one on Swift’s concert team saw anything amiss.