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Photographer Who Accused Taylor Swift's Dad Scott of Assault Breaks Silence
Ben McDonald, an Australian photographer who recently claimed that he was assaulted by Scott Swift, is opening up about the alleged incident, telling TMZ he's willing to let everything go if Papa Swift apologizes.
The altercation reportedly happened around 2:30 a.m. local time on Tuesday, Feb. 27, in Sydney, Australia, at a ferry terminal where the father-daughter duo was seen disembarking a yacht in the hours following her final Eras Tour in the country.
Footage of the incident, published by TMZ, shows Scott escorting Taylor, who was covering her face from the paparazzi underneath a large umbrella, to a waiting vehicle alongside members of her security team, who rushed the singer into the backseat. None of the footage clearly shows the altercation in question, but things obviously become heated between the two sides.
A representative for Swift previously shut down McDonald's claims, explaining to Parade that "two individuals were aggressively pushing their way towards Taylor, grabbing at her security personnel, and threatening to throw a female staff member into the water."
McDonald claimed the statement was "utter rubbish," according to the Daily Mail, suggesting that Taylor was the only female present. "This is the sort of [BS] I might expect," he added.
He doubled down to TMZ, suggesting that the footage available tells the whole story—that photographers were not the instigators and that security became aggressive with them, perhaps because the paparazzi figured out where they were. That said, he acknowledged that the footage doesn't prove assault.
Law enforcement officials are still investigating an "alleged assault after a 71-year-old man allegedly assaulted a 51-year-old man at Neutral Bay Wharf." The police declined to name any of the parties involved but shared that it was the 51-year-old (McDonald) who reported the incident. He did not require any medical attention.
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