Taylor Swift is somewhat of a household name. After all, with over ten years in the music scene – spanning five albums and numerous wins for each – it’s hard not to know who exactly Swift is.
She’s a singer, yes, but one of her other most important roles is being a feminist.
Swift understands that feminism is about more than just pro-female aggression. It’s about equality for both men and women, and recently, her fight has been so that women’s remarks in the courtroom are considered with as much brevity as a man’s.
In 2013, during a meet-and-greet at the Pepsi arena in Denver, Colorado, Swift alleged that she was groped on the behind by KYGO radio DJ David Mueller. This incident went largely unnoticed by the general public until Mueller brought it to light, having been fired from his position after Swift and Co. reported the groping. Claiming that Swift was personally responsible for his termination, Mueller sued for a cool three million dollars.
She countersued for a single dollar, sticking exactly to her story.
During the trial, Swift was nothing but relentless in maintaining her account. “I am critical of your client for sticking his hand under my skirt and grabbing my ass,” she said at one point during her testimony. “I am being blamed for the unfortunate events of his life that are a product of his decisions and not mine.”
On August 11, US district judge William Martinez threw out Mueller’s first case, stating that his party did not have sufficient evidence to prove that Swift had personally been responsible for his termination. Swift’s case for assault and battery pressed on.
With a jury consisting of six women and two men, the courts ruled in favor of Swift once more, stating that she had been sexually assaulted by Mueller and that he would pay her the symbolic dollar she had sued for.
In a way, Swift was lucky. Her career has afforded her privileges in many areas, one of them being large amounts of practice in dealing with negative press. Because of the trials and tribulations she has endured, negative press doesn’t have the ability to influence her or the choices she makes to the point where she might have changed her mind based on the press she was receiving. 
Others have not been so lucky. The case of Kristin Anderson, for one, is a good example of the media unconsciously suppressing a victim’s choices. But Swift is suing to, “serve as an example who may resist publicly reliving similar outrageous acts.” She wants to do what she does best. She wants to be a trailblazer for a new era in feminism and now that she’s set a shaky precedent on assault cases, other cases can look at hers hopefully and follow in her footsteps.
In the aftermath, Swift has pledged to donate to different charities dedicated to aiding victims of sexual assault. Mueller, on the other hand, plans to pay Swift’s $1 with a dollar coin imprinted with a Native American.
He believes that the coin will be a nice gesture, and doesn’t plan to speak ill of Swift, even though he still pleads his innocence. “I hold women in high regard…[and] I’m not going to say anything about Swift.”
Featured Image by Eva Rinaldi on Flickr
Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0)
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Janice Henshaw
August 21, 2017 at 5:00 pm
Hooray for Taylor Swift! That D.J. Clearly messed with the wrong woman. She is
tough and determined relentless in her fight for justice. Good article.
Thank you,
J.H.