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CELEBRITIES
Swift justice: Jury sides with pop star, awards $1
Taylor Swift won $1 and long-awaited vindication after a Denver jury decided Monday that a radio host groped her during a pre-concert photo op four years ago.
After a weeklong trial over dueling lawsuits, jurors determined that fired Denver DJ David Mueller assaulted the pop star by grabbing her backside during a backstage meet-and-greet. The six-woman, two-man jury also found that Swift’s mother and radio liaison were within their rights to contact Mueller’s bosses.
Mueller sued the Swifts and their radio handler, Frank Bell, seeking up to $3 million for his ruined career.
Just before closing arguments, the judge dismissed Taylor Swift from Mueller’s lawsuit, saying he had failed to prove that she sought to get Mueller fired or had any reason to believe that someone else may have assaulted her. U.S. District Judge William Martinez also drastically reduced the amount Mueller could collect.
The singer-songwriter said in her countersuit that she wanted a symbolic $1 and the chance to stand up for other women.
Testimony showed that Swift reported the incident to her mother and others on her team but that she never sought any specific action regarding Mueller.
From the start, Swift’s side portrayed the encounter as a clear case of sexual assault, even though they never reported it to police. Her mother tearfully testified that she asked Bell to reach out to Mueller’s employers at country station KYGO-FM instead because they wanted to handle the matter quietly and avoid exposing the singer-songwriter to publicity.