Photographer who claims Taylor Swift’s dad assaulted him speaks out: ‘I was not aggressive’

The Australian photographer who claims Taylor Swift’s father Scott assaulted him early Tuesday morning has denied doing anything to provoke the 71-year-old.

“There was no situation where we were aggressive,” Ben McDonald, 52, told Fox News Digital about the alleged altercation. “You know, I wasn’t being aggressive. They just didn’t ask for it, you know what I mean?”

He added: “I think the security personnel were angry at the fact that we had found a place to take her off the yacht.”

Earlier, a Swift spokesperson told Fox News Digital that “two individuals aggressively advanced toward Taylor, grabbed a security guard, and threatened to throw a female staff member into the water.”

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MacDonald told Fox News Digital that the statement “is what I would expect from them trying to make a statement. I mean, they’re coming from a very powerful place. You have the most recognizable face on the planet. Essentially, and you know, she’s the biggest person compared to the Beatles, and she’s definitely the biggest person in the world, having played four consecutive sold-out concerts in Sydney. That just goes to show that she’s absolutely huge.”

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McDonald said she didn’t know who Scott Swift was until the incident.

MacDonald said another video shot by Stringer shows Scott giving a paparazzi “the finger” as they walk down the pier hand in hand with a 34-year-old man.

Taylor Swift and her parents, 2013. (Rick Diamond/ACMA2013/Getty Images for ACM)

At first I thought the man holding hands with the “Cruel Summer” singer was a security guard, but then I thought, “Wait a minute, that’s weird. No security guard would ever hold hands like that.” , you know, “We found out it was her father, so I think they were upset about the fact that we found that place.”

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Swift’s representatives “we’re being aggressive, we’re being intimidating, we’re saying things like that,” he said. But “we don’t have to act like that. We’ve never acted like that. Things are very calm in Sydney. Similarly, there’s no need to get into an aggressive situation.”

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MacDonald said situations generally only get heated “when you have an inexperienced security guard or security guard. They get frustrated with something and back up.”

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Swift’s team reportedly used umbrellas to protect the pop star from photographers. “What they’re doing this time is they’re putting an umbrella on us. You know, they’re kind of putting an umbrella on us,” MacDonald explained.

“I couldn’t see in front of me. I couldn’t see what was going on behind the umbrella. At one point, I tried to move the umbrella away from my face. It was right above my face. I couldn’t.’ And the next moment they shoved harder, and the next moment her father lunged at me and punched me in the face,” he alleged.

Taylor Swift is in Australia for her “Ellas” tour. (Scott Eisen/TAS23/TAS Copyright Management via Getty Images)

After the alleged assault, there was an “exchange of words”. “Then they got in their car and drove off, so I went to the police station and reported it.”

NSW Police confirmed an investigation had been launched against Scott.

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According to People magazine, Nicole Kidman won a legal battle against McDonald and another photographer in 2005, obtaining a restraining order against McDonald after a listening device was discovered on her property in Sydney. .

According to The Telegraph via Business Insider, McDonald’s lawyers issued a statement at the time.

“He vehemently denies having anything to do with the installation of the wiretaps,” it reads.