Last week was a battlefield for country-pop star Taylor Swift, as she and her legal team matched wits and arguments against David Mueller, a former DJ of Denver station KYGO who filed suit against her for being instrumental in losing his job there. The root of the case was an incident in the Pepsi Center back in 2013 when Mueller allegedly groped her in the buttocks during a meet-and-greet, her complaining to KYGO’s management that led to his work termination. Following her own testimony and cross-examination, Taylor Swift has been able to breathe a sigh of relief over the weekend, when the presiding judge ruled in her favor and threw out Mueller’s lawsuit.
Case dismissed
This celebrity courtroom drama came to an end – at least where Taylor Swift is concerned – when on Friday, August 11, U.S. District Judge William Martinez ruled in her favor, removing her from David Mueller’s lawsuit. The DJ had demanded $3 million worth of damages for the music artist spurring his bosses at KYGO to fire him, leading to a stumbling block in his professional career since. With his suit against Swift thrown out, Mueller must now contend with her countersuit, which will cost him a million in turn if successful.
But while Taylor is now in the clear, the lawsuit is not entirely dead. As it turns out, the singer was not the only defendant named by Mueller. Her management team and her mother Andrea Swift are also on Mueller’s crosshairs with his suit, holding them just as responsible for his fall from grace in 2013.
Since their parts have not been thrown out by Judge Martinez, the matter will be decided upon by the jury when they return to session this week. There was still enough cause for some celebration in the Swift camp, as the pop idol embraced her legal team while Mueller and his attorney sat stone-faced and silent throughout.
What next
While Judge William Martinez sent the jury home for the weekend, they will still have decisions to make when the trial reconvenes. Their next task is to decide on Taylor Swift’s countersuit on David Mueller. They will decide whether for or against her claim that the former DJ groped her all those years ago. And then they will also decide, be it in favor or against, the claim of Mueller that Mrs.
Swift and her daughter’s management team had also prevailed on his bosses to let him go.
Ever since her strong testimony last Thursday, August 10, Taylor has been the darling of celebrity friends and her fans, gushing over her display of personal fortitude during the trial. Now that the judge had decided in her favor, social media has been very vocal in their congratulations.
Y'all. I'm digging @taylorswift13 so hard right now for the feminist badassery. https://t.co/v4Fw18oNSV
— shonda rhimes (@shondarhimes) August 12, 2017
Number of women sexually assaulted in a year in America=>300k
— Dr. Angela Johnson (@ChasingtheMind) August 12, 2017
Support for @taylorswift13 for standing up. https://t.co/2BSumdi5Sf