Taylor Swift said she became “shocked and withdrawn” after a Colorado radio DJ allegedly groped her bare rear end during a meet-and-greet at one of her concerts, the singer said in a deposition excerpt obtained by TheWrap.
The “Shake it Off” singer is locked in a legal battle with David Mueller, whom she claims groped her rear during a June 2013 encounter at Pepsi Arena in Denver. In a deposition excerpt filed Monday, Swift described the devastating emotional effect that the alleged incident had on her.
“As soon as he grabbed my ass, I became shocked and withdrawn and was barely able to say ‘Thanks for coming,’ which is what I say to everybody,” Swift said in the deposition, taken in July.
“I was barely able to get the words out, and it was like somebody switched the lights off in my personality,” Swift continued.
Mueller, who denies groping Swift, is suing the singer, claiming that he was wrongfully fired due to her accusation. Swift has filed a counter-suit against Mueller, asserting that she knows he groped her.
Swift re-asserted that claim in the deposition, stating, “He put his hand under my dress and grabbed my bare ass.”
The singer said that, after allegedly being groped by Mueller, “I was looking at the floor, and I just wanted him to be gone.”
Swift testified that she didn’t alert her team to the alleged groping until after the meet-and-greet for fear of the incident being made public.
“I didn’t have one split-second without a fan in front of me until that moment,” Swift testified. “And I didn’t want people to find out about this. Anything that I say in front of fans could end up in the press, and I didn’t want that.”
Swift says that the alleged incident occurred while she was posing for a photo with Mueller and others. In October, Swift succeeded in having a photo capturing the alleged groping incident placed under seal, contending that, if the “extremely personal” photo was made public, it would likely be shared for “scandalous and prurient interests.”
Pamela Chelin contributed to this report.