Taylor Swift is putting her money where her mouth is.
After emerging victorious in a trial over whether radio DJ David Mueller groped her rear-end during a 2013 meet-and-greet at Pepsi Center in Denver, the “Shake It Off” singer has made an “extremely generous” donation to “Law & Order: SVU” star Mariska Hargitay’s Joyful Heart Donation, an organization dedicated to tackling the issue of sexual assault.
The foundation’s CEO, Maile M. Zambuto, told the Huffington Post that Swift is making an “extremely generous financial investment in the movement to end sexual violence,” which will benefit the foundation’s healing program’s educational work and advocacy efforts, including the elimination of America’s rape-kit backlog.
Hargitay launched the foundation, which she described as is “a national organization with the mission to transform society’s response to sexual assault, domestic violence and child abuse,” in 2004.
Zambuto said the funds will go toward three of the foundation’s main initiatives: healing programs, educational work and advocacy work ― the latter of which focuses on the elimination of the U.S.’s rape kit backlog.
Swift was initially sued in September 2015 by Mueller, who alleged that he was wrongfully fired after being accused of groping the singer during the meet-and-greet at Swift’s concert at Denver’s Pepsi Center in June 2013. The radio personality, who goes by the professional name “Jackson,” has adamantly denied the accusation, though Swift has testified: “It was not an accident. It was completely intentional, and I have never been so sure of anything in my life.”
Swift subsequently filed a countersuit against Mueller in October 2015.
Last week, a Colorado judge tossed Mueller’s claims against Swift, a victory that was followed on Monday by a jury finding in Swift’s favor in her claims against Mueller. The singer had sought a symbolic award of $1.
After Monday’s legal win, Swift issued a statement saying that she would be donating to “multiple organizations” that are dedicated to helping sexual assault victims.
“I acknowledge the privilege that I benefit from in life, in society and in my ability to shoulder the enormous cost of defending myself in a trial like this,” Swift said. “My hope is to help those whose voices should also be heard. Therefore, I will be making donations in the near future to multiple organizations that help sexual assault victims defend themselves.”
Here's Everything To Know About Katy Perry and Taylor Swift's Bad Blood
The bad blood between Katy Perry and Taylor Swift has been under debate ever since the 2014 single dropped. Perry recently explained to James Corden during "Carpool Karaoke" what the feud is all about. Here, we break it down for you.
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Fast friends
Back in 2009, the two pop stars were friends. They tweeted, went to parties together and took pictures together at award shows. But Swift says she didn't know if the friendship was genuine or not. "She would come up to me at awards shows and say something and walk away, and I would think, 'Are we friends, or did she just give me the harshest insult of my life?" Swift told Rolling Stone in a 2014 interview.
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Back-up dancer drama
Three back-up dancers--Lockhart Brownlie, Scott Myrick and Leah Adler--agreed to dance for Katy during her "Prism" tour in 2013, but also wanted to tour with Swift for her "Red" tour. The dancers agreed to leave Swift's tour early in order to join Perry.
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Perry explains
Perry told James Corden during her recent "Carpool Karaoke" segment about the drama. “It’s so crazy!” Perry said. “Okay, so there are three backing dancers that went on tour with her tour, right? And they asked me before they went on tour if they could go, and I was like, ‘Yeah, of course. I’m not on a record cycle and get the work, and she’s great and all that. But I will be on a record cycle probably in about a year. So be sure to put a 30-day contingency in your contract so you can get out if you want to join me when I say I’m going back on.’ That year came up, right? And I texted all of them because I’m very close with them and I said, ‘Look, just FYI, I’m about to start. I want to put the word out there. They said, ‘Okay, we’re going to go and talk to management about it.’ And they did, and they got fired.”
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Swift's version
But Swift didn't see the incident as a misunderstanding. She saw it as a calculated business move meant to sabotage her tour. She did something so horrible," Swift said in that Rolling Stone interview. "I was like, 'Oh, we're just straight-up enemies.' And it wasn't even about a guy! It had to do with business. She basically tried to sabotage an entire arena tour. She tried to hire a bunch of people out from under me."
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Bad Blood
So in 2014, on Swift's first pop-only album, "1989," is the song "Bad Blood." The music video features several of Swift's best gal pals--definitely not Perry, though.
The lyrics speak for themselves: "You know it used to be mad love So take a look what you've done ’Cause baby, now we've got bad blood, hey! Now we've got problems And I don't think we can solve 'em You made a really deep cut And baby, now we've got bad blood, hey!"
Last year, when Swift broke up with boyfriend Calvin Harris, he tweeted and then deleted: "I know you're off tour and you need someone new to try and bury like Katy ETC but I'm not that guy, sorry. I won't allow it," further confirming suspicions that the "someone" Swift was talking about in 2014 was Perry.
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Perry claps back
And so, in true musician-beef style, Perry has now responded in her latest single, "Swish Swish." The lyrics make it clear that Perry isn't messing around. "Your game is tired You should retire You're 'bout cute as An old coupon expired And karma's not a liar She keeps receipts"
Well, Perry has said that because Swift started it, "it’s time for her to finish it." This feud probably won't be solved with subtweets or music videos. The ball's in your court, Taylor. Swish.
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Katy Perry admitted to James Corden that the pop stars have beef. “It’s time for her to finish it,” she says
The bad blood between Katy Perry and Taylor Swift has been under debate ever since the 2014 single dropped. Perry recently explained to James Corden during "Carpool Karaoke" what the feud is all about. Here, we break it down for you.