Taylor Swift’s father will not face charges for alleged paparazzi assault, Australian police say
CNN
By Heather Chen and Hilary Whiteman, CNN
(CNN) — Taylor Swift’s father will not face charges for allegedly assaulting a paparazzi photographer in Sydney last month, Australian police have confirmed.
Officers “have conducted an investigation following a report of an assault at Neutral Bay Wharf (in Sydney) at about 2:30 a.m. local time on 27 February,” a spokesperson for the New South Wales (NSW) Police Force told CNN on Tuesday.
“No further police action” would be taken, the spokesperson said of the case involving Swift’s 71-year-old father Scott, dubbed “Papa Swift” by many of the megastar’s fans.
In late February, photographer Ben McDonald claimed Scott Swift had assaulted him after the singer disembarked from a yacht docked in Sydney Harbor following her final show of the Australia leg of her Eras tour, the multi-continent extravaganza that has surged to become the highest-grossing tour of all time.
Sharing his account with CNN, McDonald said one of Swift’s security guards had forced an umbrella into his face and camera. Scott Swift punched him after that, he said.
Swift’s entourage had been “aggressive and unprofessional,” McDonald said.
In response to McDonald’s claims, a spokesperson for Swift told CNN that threats had been made against a member of her staff. “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,” the spokesperson said.
No medical treatment was needed, NSW police said at the time.
When asked if the complaint against Scott Swift had been withdrawn or what the investigation found, the NSW police spokesperson said: “We don’t provide full investigation details.”
“No offenses were detected and the investigation was concluded with no further police action required,” the spokesperson said.
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