Swift Among Those Named 'Person Of The Year' For Calling Out Denver DJ
DENVER (CBS4) - The "Silence Breakers" of the #MeToo movement have named Time Magazine's Persons of the Year.
Among those noted was Singer Taylor Swift who won her countersuit against a former KYGO DJ who had been accused of grabbing her buttocks during this photo obtained by TMZ.
Swift asked for just $1 in damages as argued by her attorney Doug Baldrige who spoke after the verdict..
"That dollar is a single dollar and it is of immeasurable value," Baldrige told reporters.
The singer told Time Magazine "When the jury found in my favor, the man who sexually assaulted me was court-ordered to give me a symbolic $1. To this day he has not paid me that dollar, and I think that act of defiance is symbolic in itself."
Legal analyst Karen Steinhauser notes Swift was sued by the former DJ David Mueller after the loss of his job and only then did the singer countersue and win the dollar award.
"It's not about the money," Steinhauser said. "It's about saying what happened wasn't right and not paying this dollar is part of that mentality."
It happened at the Pepsi Center back in 2013 during a meet-and-greet. Swift testified the then-country music DJ reached under her skirt and grabbed her.
Mueller denied it. Steinhauser says the significance of the case cannot be measured in dollars.
"The most important thing was breaking the silence not about the money damage not winning the lawsuit it's about breaking the silence," Steinhauser said.
The U.S. District Court Clerk's office could not confirm that the jury award had not yet been paid, but noted no motion has been filed by Swift's attorney asking that the $1 be compelled to be turned over.
CBS4's Rick Sallinger is a Peabody award winning reporter who has been with the station more than two decades doing hard news and investigative reporting. Follow him on Twitter @ricksallinger.
