Taylor Swift’s dad won’t face charges in Sydney altercation with paparazzo
Taylor Swift’s father, Scott Swift, won’t face charges in Australia after allegedly punching a photographer who tried to snap a photo of his daughter when she was in Sydney for her Eras tour late last month.
“Officers attached to North Shore Police Area Command have conducted an investigation following a report of an assault at Neutral Bay Wharf about 2:30 AM on Tuesday 27 February 2024,” New South Wales Police confirmed to The Times on Wednesday.
Taylor Swift’s camp denied a photographer’s characterization of her entourage being threatening and aggressive during an incident in Sydney early Tuesday.
“No further police action will be taken in relation to this matter,” the spokesperson said.
At the time, police were told that a 71-year-old man allegedly assaulted a 51-year-old man at the wharf. The younger man reported the incident, which launched inquiries by local officers.
The 71-year-old man was Scott Swift, affectionately dubbed “Papa Swift” by the pop star’s legion of fans, and the 51-year-old was photographer Ben McDonald, who told police he was punched in the face by Swift’s father at the Neutral Bay Wharf. McDonald accused the superstar’s entourage of being “aggressive and unprofessional.” He also told CNN that one of Swift’s security guards forced an umbrella into his face and camera.
But Swift’s camp denied that characterization.
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce have taken their romance down under, where the NFL player has joined the singer for her four-night Eras tour stop in Sydney.
“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,” a spokesperson for the “Anti-Hero” and “Shake It Off” singer said at the time. (The spokesperson did not comment further on Scott Swift’s alleged actions.)
The incident took place after the singer had performed four back-to-back concerts in Sydney that week and three shows in Melbourne earlier that month.
Cultural dominance. History-making album sales. Sold-out stadiums. Add them up, and Taylor Swift’s current moment has little precedent in pop-music history.
Swift, 34, followed those shows with six concerts in Singapore earlier this month. Now she’s taking a break from touring and apparently spending some quality time jet-setting with her Super Bowl champ boyfriend Travis Kelce, The pair, who have been linked since late summer, have been spotted swimming in the Bahamas and lurking around the Los Angeles area over the past few days. They had lunch at Nobu Malibu on Sunday and reportedly shut down the West Hollywood gym Dogpound for a private workout earlier this week.
The prolific singer-songwriter is set to release her 11th studio album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” on April 19 and will resume her Eras tour in Paris on May 9, traveling through Europe until August. The billion-dollar, history-making tour then returns to the United States in October before Swift wraps with a three-night stint in Toronto in early December.
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