Taylor Swift Finally Sues the Man who she says Groped Her

Taylor Swift’s next appearance in Denver won’t be in front of 20,000 screaming fans in the Pepsi Center but rather 12 jurors in a federal courtroom.

Swift is due to testify next week in a civil case she brought against a former local DJ who is accused of grabbing her butt during a meet-and-greet four years ago. Swift says she’s “never been so sure of anything in her life” that David Mueller intentionally put his hand under her skirt and touched her. Mueller claims he never meant to touch Swift inappropriately when they had their photo taken together at Denver’s Pepsi Center on June 2, 2013. 

In fact, Mueller sued Swift first, for allegedly pressuring his bosses to fire him after he lost his $150,000-a-year job as the morning DJ at country radio station KYGO. Swift countersued for assault and battery, contending that Mueller, then 51 years old, groped her, leaving her “shocked and distressed.”

Swift said in a deposition that “right as the moment came for us to pose for the photo, he [Mueller] took his hand and put it up my dress and grabbed onto my *ss cheek, and no matter how much I scooted over, it was still there... it was not an accident.”

Some of the evidence in the case was destroyed by Mueller himself. He was sanctioned by Judge William Martinez just last month for destroying four devices including his computer and an iPhone, which held a recording he made with his boss the day after the incident. The next day, he was fired.

That might leave the trial as a case of “he said, she said,” but for one photo taken at almost the exact moment Swift claims Mueller groped her. The image, which has since been sealed by Judge Martinez, shows Swift flanked by Mueller and his then-girlfriend, Shannon Melcher. Swift appears to be leaning into Melcher and away from Mueller, whose arm is seen around Swift’s back. Attempts by The Daily Beast to reach Mueller and Melcher were ignored.