This time last year, Taylor Swift won her sexual assault case against Colorado radio DJ David Mueller, who sued Swift for $3 million in damages because he was fired from his radio cohost job in 2013 after she claimed he lifted her skirt and grabbed her butt while posing for a photo. She filed a countersuit and sought a symbolic one dollar in damages, which the jury awarded her.
Swift was playing her Tampa Reputation concert on the one-year anniversary last night, and she gave an emotional speech reflecting on the trial, thanking her fans for their support during it, and stressing the need for better justice for sexual assault victims. "I guess I just think about all the people that weren’t believed and people who haven’t been believed and the people who are afraid to speak up because they think they won’t be believed," Swift said. "And I just wanted to say that I’m sorry to anyone who ever wasn’t believed because I don’t know what turn my life would take if people didn’t believe me when I said that something had happened to me. And so I guess I just wanted to say that we have so, so, so much further to go, and I’m so grateful to you guys for being there for me during what was a really, really horrible part of my life."
Her full speech:
So, I just went to, just looking back, this exact day a year ago, I was not playing a sold out stadium in Tampa, I was in a courtroom in Denver, Colorado, and honestly, I was there for a sexual assault case, and this day a year ago was the day that the jury decided in my favor and said that they believed me. And I really—I’m not—I don’t want to, I guess I just think about all the people that weren’t believed and people who haven’t been believed and the people who are afraid to speak up because they think they won’t be believed. And I just wanted to say that I’m sorry to anyone who ever wasn’t believed because I don’t know what turn my life would take if people didn’t believe me when I said that something had happened to me. And so I guess I just wanted to say that we have so, so, so much further to go, and I’m so grateful to you guys for being there for me during what was a really, really horrible part of my life. So I just wanted to say that, and I wanted to thank you for everything, and to thank you for, I know that when I meet you guys in meet-and-greet before and after shows, you guys tell me about the hard times that you’ve gone through in your lives, and I really appreciate you trusting me with that information. And you know, you’ve seen me going through so many ups and downs of my life just due to the public nature of the way my life is, and I just wanted to say I’m so happy to see you and to have you and to know you through the ups and downs of my life. So thank you for everything. [Swift pauses, emotional]. Sorry, I just haven’t really talked about it, and I’m just really not composed at all."
To show their support to Swift, fans posted photos of themselves holding dollar bills. Swift liked several on her Tumblr and Instagram.
Alyssa Bailey is the senior news and strategy editor at ELLE.com, where she oversees coverage of celebrities and royals (particularly Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton). She previously held positions at InStyle and Cosmopolitan. When she's not working, she loves running around Central Park, making people take #ootd pics of her, and exploring New York City.
