Taylor Swift has attended court for the first day of a trial over remarks she made about an alleged sexual assault that led to a DJ losing his job. Swift sat next to her lawyers at the Denver court as the eight-member jury was chosen from a pool of 60 prospects. David Mueller was fired from his job at a country and western station after Swift’s team told his boss that he had grabbed her buttock during a meet-and-greet before a 2013 concert. She claimed he slipped his hand under her dress and grabbed her bare bottom as they posed.
The Colorado radio personality sued, claiming Swift falsely accused him of the groping and pressured station management to fire him from his $150,000-a-year job. Swift denied his accusations, saying in her deposition to the court: “It was not an accident, it was completely intentional, and I have never been so sure of anything in my life.” She then counter-sued, saying she suffered assault and battery at the hands of Mueller, 55, who denied her claims. Both accusations will now form part of the same trial.
Swift and Mueller are not required to be in court for jury selection, which will take two days, but must be present for the rest of the trial. Swift is expected to testify as the DJ sues for at least $3m (£2.3m) in damages. Potential jurors were asked whether they were fans of Swift or Mueller. They were asked to fill in a 15-page questionnaire inquiring if they had ever been inappropriately touched, seen Swift in concert, downloaded or purchased her music or were at the June 2013 show. Security was tight before proceedings got under way with police and a sniffer dog waiting outside the courtroom in the rain.