Taylor Swift let it all out during her Tampa, Florida concert on Tuesday night, as she marked the one-year anniversary of the day a jury sided with her in a sexual assault trial by opening up to fans on stage while fighting back tears.
“A year ago I was not playing in a stadium in Tampa, I was in a courtroom in Denver, Colorado,” Swift says, in the video below, shot by a concertgoer during the pop star’s latest stop on her “Reputation” tour. “This is the day the jury sided in my favor and said that they believed me.”
“I guess I just think about all the people that weren’t believed and the people who haven’t been believed, and the people who are afraid to speak up because they think they won’t be believed,” the 28-year-old singer continued.
“I just wanted to say I’m sorry to anyone who ever wasn’t believed because I don’t know what turn my life would have taken if somebody didn’t believe me when I said something had happened to me.”
“So I just wanted to say we have so much further to go, and I’m so grateful to you guys for being there for me for what was really a horrible part of my life,” Swift said as fans cheered loudly from the audience, who held up $1 bills in a show of support.
Last August 14, a jury sided with Swift in her trial against radio DJ David Mueller, ordering him to pay her a symbolic $1 for groping her backside during a pre-concert meet-and-greet in 2013.
Mueller had counter-sued Swift, along with her mother and their radio handler, Frank Bell, for up to $3 million for damage to his radio career. Prior to closing arguments, Federal Judge William J. Martinez dismissed Swift from Mueller’s lawsuit and reduced the amount Mueller could have collected to $300,000 had the jury ruled in favor of him.
“I want to thank Judge William J. Martinez and the jury for their careful consideration, my attorneys Doug Baldridge, Danielle Foley, Jay Schaudies and Katie Wright for fighting for me and anyone who feels silenced by a sexual assault, and especially anyone who offered their support throughout this four-year ordeal and two-year long trial process,” Swift said in a statement at the time.
Watch clips from Swift’s on-stage speech below.
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