Taylor Swift's mother has testified she became sick to her stomach when she learned her daughter had been groped during a photo shoot but decided against calling police to avoid publicity.
"I did not want this event to define her life," Andrea Swift said in the second day of testimony in a federal court trial stemming from the Grammy-winning singer's allegation a Denver DJ fondled her bare buttocks at the pre-concert photo session.
Swift's mother, who serves as part of her daughter's management team, told jurors on Wednesday that one worry was the prospect the photo taken with radio personality David Mueller might end up going viral and even being doctored in a lewd way.
"I was very upset ... I felt like I wanted to vomit," Andrea Smith, 59, testified when asked to recall her reaction to her daughter telling her she had been groped before a June 2013 concert in Denver.
"'Mom, a guy just grabbed my ass at the meet-and-greet'," she recounted her daughter telling her moments after the alleged incident.
Asked if she had sought out witnesses to the incident, the mother said she had no reason to doubt her daughter's account.
"He sexually assaulted my daughter, right there, that guy," Andrea Swift said as she pointed her finger at Mueller.
The mother tearfully acknowledged her daughter expressed bewilderment at having "thanked" Mueller and his girlfriend after posing with them despite believing she had just been groped.
"It was just destroying her," the elder Swift testified.
"Why did I teach her to be so polite?"
Mueller, who lost his job at radio station KYGO-FM over the encounter with Swift, insisted under oath on Tuesday he was innocent of any inappropriate behaviour and a victim of false accusations.
Mueller, 55, initiated the litigation, claiming Swift fabricated the groping story and pressured KYGO to fire him.
Swift then countersued for assault and battery.
The eight-member US District Court jury is weighing both claims in a single trial.
