In September 2015 a DJ and radio host, named David Mueller, filed a lawsuit against Taylor Swift. Mueller allegedly groped Taylor Swift during a concert meet-and-greet on June 2, 2013. Mueller claims that his boss wrongfully terminated him and that he never groped Taylor. Mueller is suing for $3 million in damaging of his reputation and losing pay from his former job, at KYGO Radio Station. In October 2015, Taylor countersued for sexually assaulted her by grabbing her butt under her skirt. TMZ was able to get the photo of the alleged incident (seen above). Taylor Swift’s legal team says that Mueller grabbed “her body in an inappropriate manner, against her will, and without her permission.”
Taylor Swift’s management team says that Mueller lifted up her skirt and groped her butt, while taking a photo together. Taylor pulled her skirt back down, and stepped closer to Mueller’s girlfriend. One of Taylor’s security guards, Greg Dent, says that he witness Mueller touching her butt. After the photo, Taylor told her mother and management team. The management team then removed Mueller from the concert. The next day, Taylor’s radio promotions director, Frank Bell, called KYGO Radio Station’s Vice President, Robert Call, and explained the incident. The police were never involved with the incident. Robert Call then suspended Mueller (without pay) to investigate. Mueller was fired, but KYGO stated that they were already looking into firing him before this incident.
Mueller states, while the photo does look inappropriate, he did not touch Taylor’s bottom. In the photo, him and his (then) girlfriend posed with Taylor at a meet-and-greet. Mueller claims to have touched Taylor’s back with a closed fist and was only trying to jump into frame. Mueller claims to have met hundred of celebrities and never groped any of them. Mueller also blames his other boss, Eddie Haskell, for being the one to touch Taylor Swift inappropriately.
After Mueller started accusing Eddie Haskell of touching Taylor Swift, Taylor’s team decided to countersue. Taylor says that she “never been so sure of anything in my life,” and it was in fact Mueller touching her. Her countersuit states “Ms. Swift knows exactly who committed the assault — it was Mueller — and she is not confused in the slightest about whether her long-term business acquaintance, Mr. Haskell, was the culprit.”
Mueller had secretly recorded a two hour long conversation he had with his KYGO Radio Station employers about the incident. There were 19 clips of the full conversation, but only eleven were sent to Taylor Swift’s legal team. The iPhone he recorder on was broken, so the clips were sent to his laptop. Mueller’s laptop was damaged after slipping coffee on it. Another external drive was broke, an iPad he had was shattered, and he throw away the phone that the call was on. U.S. District Judge, William Martinez, said that Mueller was “unjustifiably careless in his handling of evidence that he had a clear duty to preserve,” and only the eleven clips will be used in court.
After hearing everything, it seems to me that Mueller will probably be guilty. It seems very strange that Mueller never sent the 19 clips to his lawyer before his laptop was damaged. Also, it seems suspicions that so many of Mueller’s devices were suddenly damaged right before the trial. In the photo, Mueller is clearly not touching Taylor’s back. Mueller claims that he was off balance because he was jumping into frame, but he looks sturdy on his feet. Also, why did Mueller suddenly blame Eddie Haskell for touching Taylor? If Haskell did such a thing, why not admit that before he was fired? Lastly, KYGO Radio Station admitted to looking into firing Mueller before the incident. Mueller can not blame Taylor for being fired, if KYGO Radio Station was already planning on firing him.
The case is not being taken seriously by the public for many reasons. One major reason is because of how rich and powerful Taylor Swift is. She is often seen as “playing the victim” even when she is not the victim. Taylor is often hated for writing songs about her ex-boyfriends and lying about the Kanye West incident. Yet, those situations have a “gray area,” whereas sexual assault does not. If Taylor did not give Mueller permission to touch her, he has no right in doing so in anyway. If it can be proven that Mueller touched Taylor in an inappropriate manner, then he is guilty of sexual assault. Taylor’s past, fame, money, power, and career does not grant permission for unwanted touching.
Just recently in the new was the case of Megan Rondini vs TJ Bunn. Victim, Megan Rondini, committed suicide because she was blamed for her own rape. A powerful business man, TJ Bunn, raped her and persuaded the town they both lived in to harass her. Famous singer, Kesha, also lost her case to Dr. Luke after accusing him of rape and emotional abuse. Many people feel as those Megan and Kesha are victims of sexual assault. Even though Taylor is more powerful than Mueller, she is still a victim of sexual assault, and she should be taken just as seriously as Megan Rondini and Kesha. Taylor wants to "serve as an example to other women who may resist publicly reliving similar outrageous and humiliating acts.”
Megan Rondini at the University of Alabama; Kesha crying after losing her case.
Taylor Swift is seeking one dollar in damages, and if she receives more money, it shall be donated to a charity “to protecting women from similar acts of sexual assault and personal disregard.” Just recently, Taylor donated $250,000 to Kesha after hearing Kesha’s court ruling.
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