An Australian photographer who claims Taylor Swift's father Scott assaulted him early Tuesday denies doing anything to provoke the 71-year-old.
“There was no situation where we were aggressive,” Ben McDonald, 52, told Fox News Digital of the alleged altercation. “You know, I wasn't aggressive. They just didn't ask for it, you know what I mean?”
He added: “I think the security team was upset by the fact that we found out where she was being taken” from her yacht.
Previously, Swift's spokesperson told Fox News Digital: “Two individuals aggressively pushed their way toward Taylor, grabbed her security staff and threatened to throw a female staff member into the water.”
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Taylor Swift's father is accused of assaulting a photographer in Australia. (Don Arnold/TAS24/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management/Larry Busacca/ACM2015/Getty Images for dcp)
McDonald told Fox News Digital that the statement is “what I would expect from them when trying to issue a statement. I mean, they're coming from a very powerful place. I mean, you have the most recognizable face on the face of the earth.” “Essentially, and the best she's been, you know, compared to the Beatles and certainly…selling out concerts for four consecutive shows in Sydney would indicate that she's absolutely huge.”
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McDonald said he didn't know who Scott Swift was until after the alleged incident.
McDonald said in another video filmed by a correspondent, Scott gives paparazzi “the finger” as he walks along the pier holding hands with the 34-year-old man.
Taylor Swift with her parents in 2013. (Rick Diamond/ACMA2013/Getty Images for ACM)
He said he initially thought the man holding the “Cruel Summer” singer's hand was a security guard, but “I thought, wait, that's weird. You wouldn't have security holding hands like that. And, You know, “We found out it was his father. So I think he resented the fact that we found out where he was.”
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He said Swift's rep “said, you know, we're being aggressive and intimidating, this kind of thing”; However, “we don't need to operate like this. We have never operated like this. Things are very calm in Sydney. We don't need to have aggressive situations.”
LOOK: Taylor Swift's father accused of attacking a photographer in Australia
McDonald noted that situations usually only get heated with “inexperienced” security guards or “security, backing them up because they were upset about something.”
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Swift's team was using umbrellas to protect the pop star from photographers, he said. “This is what they're doing this time: They pushed it on us, you know, they're pushing the umbrella on us,” McDonald explained.
“I couldn't see in front of me. I didn't know what was going on behind the umbrella. At one point, I tried to move the umbrella away from my face. It was right in my face. I couldn't see. And then the next thing you know, they pushed me harder, and then the next thing, his father grabbed me and charged at me and punched me in the face,” he alleged.
Taylor Swift is in Australia for a stop on her “Eras” tour. (Scott Eisen/TAS23/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management)
After the alleged attack there was an “exchange of words,” he said. “So they got in the car and drove away, and then I went to the police station and reported him.”
The New South Wales Police Department confirmed that an investigation has been launched into Scott.
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Nicole Kidman won a court battle against McDonald and another photographer in 2005 and obtained a restraining order against him after a listening device was found at her property in Sydney, according to People magazine.
At the time, a lawyer for McDonald issued a statement, according to The Telegraph via Business Insider.
“He emphatically denies having anything to do with the placement of any listening device,” it said.
