david mueller | Thomasville Times Enterprise

Taylor Swift vows support for victims of sexual assault as celebrities rally around her

Bolstered by support from her fellow celebrities, international superstar Taylor Swift won a symbolic victory Aug. 14 when a federal jury in Denver found that she was assaulted and battered by former Denver DJ David Mueller when he groped her at a backstage photo opportunity before a concert in June 2013. Now, Swift is using the massive publicity surrounding the trial to speak out on behalf of other victims of sexual assault, and plans to put her money where her mouth is.

From the start, Swift was interested in making a statement, not money. The jury awarded her the $1 she requested in a counterclaim against Mueller.

After the verdict, Swift’s team issued a statement on her behalf, in which she thanked her attorneys 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.”

Rare Country has monitored an outpouring of support from Swift’s fellow celebrities on social media, including posts from actresses Ashley Judd, Lena Dunham and Amber Heard, news personality Gretchen Carlson, TV producer Shonda Rhimes and many others. But backing from country music artists, most of whom rely heavily on support from country radio, has been sporadic and presumably private with the exception of a tweet from newcomer Aubrie Sellers, the daughter of former CMA Female Vocalist of the Year Lee Ann Womack.

Swift benefited from having been able to defend herself during an expensive trial, but she said her motivation was tied to benefitting other victims in the future.

“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.” Swift has typically kept her many past charitable contributions private.

The jury, which deliberated for more than four hours, also found that Swift’s mother Andrea Swift and manager Frank Bell did not interfere with Mueller’s employment at KYGO, as the DJ had claimed when he filed suit. When the verdict was read, Taylor hugged her mother, who wept. During the six-day trial Andrea Swift offered poignant testimony and was a steadfast advocate for her daughter.

Mueller’s suit against Swift alleged that she and her team falsely accused him of groping her, which led to his wrongful firing by the radio station. He sought reimbursement for his termination, but received nothing since the jury found against him.

Swift filed a counterclaim alleging that Mueller touched her inappropriately while they were being photographed together.

Swift’s lead attorney summed up the verdict, and the symbolic $1 claim: “As I said in the closing, that dollar is a single dollar, and it is of immeasurable value in this ever-going fight for us to figure out where the lines are, and what’s right and what’s wrong, and tolerance, and whose body is whose, and so on and so forth,” Douglas Baldridge said.