--- title: Taylor Swift Addresses Sexual Assault Case in Concert description: Taylor Swift addresses sexual assault case during concert in Tampa, and what it means for victims of sexual assault who people don't believe. canonical: https://time.com/5367874/taylor-swift-sexual-assault/ author: Ashley Hoffman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-08-15T14:39:10.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:47:14.451Z og:title: Taylor Swift Speaks Out About Believing Sexual Assault Victims on Anniversary of Her Trial Verdict og:description: She spoke directly to people who are afraid to speak up og:url: https://time.com/5367874/taylor-swift-sexual-assault/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6661aa0e22cb2bad/698937d786f68e21846e9e81/taylorswiftonsexualassaultcase.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Taylor Swift reputation Stadium Tour og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Taylor Swift Speaks Out About Believing Sexual Assault Victims on Anniversary of Her Trial Verdict twitter:description: She spoke directly to people who are afraid to speak up twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6661aa0e22cb2bad/698937d786f68e21846e9e81/taylorswiftonsexualassaultcase.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Taylor Swift Speaks Out About Believing Sexual Assault Victims on Anniversary of Her Trial Verdict > Sponsored content. 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The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ## Video: 'I Lurched Away From Him.’ Taylor Swift Takes the Stand in Groping Trial [Watch (HLS stream): 'I Lurched Away From Him.’ Taylor Swift Takes the Stand in Groping Trial](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/9jNh4JEb.m3u8) (1:52)  _Published 2017-08-10. Taylor Swift took the stand in Denver federal court on Thursday, testifying against David Mueller, the former deejay accused of groping the singer_ by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Aug 15, 2018 2:39 PM UTC  Taylor Swift performs onstage during the Taylor Swift reputation Stadium Tour at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on August 11, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by John Shearer/TAS18/Getty Images for TAS) Taylor Swift performs onstage during the Taylor Swift reputation Stadium Tour at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on August 11, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by John Shearer/TAS18/Getty Images for TAS)John Shearer/TAS18—Getty Images for TAS by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Aug 15, 2018 2:39 PM UTC [Taylor Swift](http://time.com/5347012/taylor-swift-falls-on-stage/) had an impassioned message for victims of sexual assault during her latest concert, marking the anniversary of when a court ruled in her favor during a civil sexual assault trial. “A year ago I was not playing in a stadium in Tampa, I was in a courtroom in Denver, Colorado,” Swift said on stage. “This is the day the jury sided in my favor and said that they believed me.” The singer then expanded the focus of her speech to touch on unsung victims of sexual assault. “I guess I just think about all the people that weren’t believed and the people who haven’t been believed, and the people who are afraid to speak up because they think they won’t be believed,” Swift said. **MORE:** [**‘I Was Angry.’ Taylor Swift on What Powered Her Sexual Assault Testimony** ](http://time.com/5049659/taylor-swift-interview-person-of-the-year-2017/) Last August, Swift testified in a Denver, Colo., court that she was assaulted and battered by former radio host David Mueller in 2013 during a meet and greet. Swift had sued for a symbolic $1 after Mueller had sued her for defamation. Some people in the audience on Tuesday held up one dollar bills, a gesture to mark the dollar that Mueller was [court ordered](http://time.com/5053983/taylor-swift-dj-david-mueller-dollar/) to give her following the ruling. Mueller told the Associated Press in December that he sent her a golden Sacagawea dollar coin via the mail. Swift spoke out about the trial to TIME for the [2017 Person of the Year](http://time.com/5049659/taylor-swift-interview-person-of-the-year-2017/). She appeared on the cover as one of the faces of “The Silence Breakers,” people who have spoken out about sexual harassment or assault and inspired others to follow suit. “I figured that if he would be brazen enough to assault me under these risky circumstances and high stakes, imagine what he might do to a vulnerable, young artist if given the chance. It was important to report the incident to his radio station because I felt like they needed to know,” she told TIME. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5367874/taylor-swift-sexual-assault/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5367874/taylor-swift-sexual-assault/"},"headline":"Taylor Swift Speaks Out About Believing Sexual Assault Victims on Anniversary of Her Trial Verdict","datePublished":"2018-08-15T14:39:10.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:47:14.451Z","description":"Taylor Swift addresses sexual assault case during concert in Tampa, and what it means for victims of sexual assault who people don't believe.","url":"https://time.com/5367874/taylor-swift-sexual-assault/","keywords":["Newsfeed","celebrities","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6661aa0e22cb2bad/698937d786f68e21846e9e81/taylorswiftonsexualassaultcase.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ashley Hoffman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6661aa0e22cb2bad/698937d786f68e21846e9e81/taylorswiftonsexualassaultcase.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Taylor Swift reputation Stadium Tour","caption":"Taylor Swift on sexual assault case on Reputation tour","creditText":"John Shearer/TAS18—Getty Images for TAS","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5367874/taylor-swift-sexual-assault/","name":"Taylor Swift Speaks Out About Believing Sexual Assault Victims on Anniversary of Her Trial Verdict"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"'I Lurched Away From Him.’ Taylor Swift Takes the Stand in Groping Trial","description":"Taylor Swift took the stand in Denver federal court on Thursday, testifying against David Mueller, the former deejay accused of groping the singer","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/9jNh4JEb/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-08-10T18:23:37.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/9jNh4JEb.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5367874/taylor-swift-sexual-assault/","duration":"PT1M52S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5367874/taylor-swift-sexual-assault/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```