Radio DJ Who Groped Taylor Swift Says He Paid Her $1 Last Week

David Mueller previously said he was going to send her a Sacagawea dollar

By Zach Johnson Dec 07, 2017 12:55 PMTags

Former radio DJ David Mueller said Wednesday he mailed a symbolic $1 to Taylor Swift after he was found guilty of groping her during a 2013 photo op. Mueller sent the money Nov. 28 and provided proof of payment to the Associated Press, Washington, D.C.'s ABC7-WJLA reports.

Mueller previously told the AP he intended to send a Sacagawea dollar, as it features a Native American woman. "I mean, If this is all about women's rights...It's a little poke at them, a little bit," he said in August. "I mean, I think they made this into a publicity stunt, and this is my life."

Swift was among the "Silence Breakers" named as TIME's Person of the Year. In an article published Wednesday, the "...Ready for It?" singer said she hadn't yet received Mueller's dollar.

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The singer also described, in her first interview about the ordeal, what really happened in 2013. "When we were posing for the photo, he stuck his hand up my dress and grabbed onto my ass cheek," the "Look What You Made Me Do" singer said. "I squirmed and lurched sideways to get away from him, but he wouldn't let go. At the time, I was headlining a major arena tour and there were a number of people in the room that saw this plus a photo of it happening. I figured that if he would be brazen enough to assault me under these risky circumstances and high stakes, imagine what he might do to a vulnerable, young artist if given the chance. It was important to report the incident to his radio station because I felt like they needed to know. The radio station conducted its own investigation and fired him. Two years later, he sued me."

Swift privately reported the incident to the station at which Mueller worked, and he was fired. Mueller sued Swift for defamation, saying she cost him a $150,000-a-year job; he sought up to $3 million in damages. Swift countersued for $1, and in August, a federal jury ruled in her favor.

The singer was defiant on the stand, offering a straightforward testimony. When asked if she felt guilty about Mueller losing his job, she told his attorney, "I'm not going to let you or your client make me feel in any way that this is my fault. Here we are, years later, and I'm being blamed for the unfortunate events of his life that are the product of his decisions—not mine."

The pop star said she was upset by how court proceedings unfolded by the time she testified. "This man hadn't considered any formalities when he assaulted me, and his lawyer didn't hold back on my mom—why should I be polite?" she argued. Proudly, Swift told TIME, "I'm told it was the most amount of times the word 'ass' has ever been said in Colorado Federal Court."