New South Wales police are investigating allegations that Taylor Swift’s father assaulted a member of the paparazzi in Sydney, following the conclusion of the ‘Eras’ tour in Australia.
Per a report from Australia’s Sydney Morning Herald on the morning of Tuesday (February 27), paparazzo Ben McDonald filed a police report against Taylor’s father, Scott Kingsley Swift, after he allegedly assaulted McDonald on Monday night.
McDonald told the Sydney Morning Herald that he was “just out on the job chasing Taylor” as she “got off a super-yacht at Neutral Bay and walked up the wharf with an umbrella over her head”. He added that she had “a couple of security [guards] around her,” and that they “sort of pushed us around with the umbrellas.”
The paparazzo alleges that “her dad decided to add to the mix and throw a punch in”, leaving him sore but uninjured. “It was a shock… There was no need for it, the security had it under control,” he said. “I’ll leave it in the police’s hands now.”
The New South Wales police have not named anyone but have since confirmed that they are investigating an alleged assault by a 71-year-old man on a 51-year-old man at 2.30am local time noting that “inquiries are now underway by officers attached to North Shore Police Area Command”.
A representative for Taylor Swift has since said in a statement to the Sydney Morning Herald: “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 has since refuted the statement, claiming that it is “an absolute lie”. “There was no other female there other than Taylor Swift. There was no aggressive behaviour. The aggressive behaviour was completely on their part. It’s an attempt to change the narrative.”
Taylor Swift wrapped up the Australian leg of her ‘Eras’ tour in Sydney on Monday night (February 26). Her Australia run of shows saw her perform in Melbourne as well, where she played to her largest audience ever. During the performance at Accor Stadium in Sydney, she was joined by special guest Sabrina Carpenter for a mash-up of ‘White Horse’ and ‘Coney Island’.
She will next perform six shows at Singapore’s National Stadium from March 2-9, the only Southeast Asian location on the Asia leg of her tour.
NME has reached out to Taylor Swift’s team for further comment.
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