It’s been a long battle between Taylor Swift and former radio DJ David Mueller. But now, the latter is using a controversial photo to defend himself from sexual assault allegations.
The photo in question is of Taylor, David, and his girlfriend Shannon Melcher which was taken during a meet and greet in 2013. In her deposition, Taylor testified that David “took his hand and put it up my dress and grabbed onto my ass cheek and no matter how much I scooted over it was still there” when the photo was being taken.
David lost his job as radio host of KYGO when Taylor told his station of the incident. He denied what he did and sued Taylor for slander last year, calling the accusation as “nonsense.” Meanwhile, Taylor countersued and requested a trial by jury.
Although Taylor filed a motion to keep the photo sealed to avoid public scrutiny and might affect potential jury, TMZ (insensitively) leaked it to everyone. The site even adds, “It’s hard to see how this pic unduly prejudices anyone.”
While it’s definitely not clear whether David did put his hand up her skirt, that still doesn’t prove that he didn’t grope her. However, David’s lawyers seem confident that they’ll win the case, telling TMZ that the photo “doesn’t prove a thing other than he didn’t have his hand underneath her skirt…but now that it’s out they feel it shows there was no contact and severely weakens her case.”
The comments section look ugly too as they’re calling Taylor a liar, especially after her feud with Kim Kardashian and Kanye West earlier this year.
However, we don’t think this is the right time to throw insults at her when this is a very serious accusation. Sexual assault is sexual assault, and we need to listen to cries of help such as this one. After all, we listened to Kesha when she opened up, and most recently, Rhian Ramos. Why not Taylor?
[Refinery29]
Photo courtesy of Taylor Swift’s Instagram account
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