Taylor Swift’s dad, Scott Swift, was not charged after an investigation into claims he attacked a photographer while in Australia for the pop star’s “Eras Tour,” Fox News Digital can confirm.
Officers at the North Shore Police Area Command conducted an investigation into the incident that occurred at Neutral Bay Wharf around 2:30 a.m. on Feb. 27 and concluded the alleged assault warranted “no further police action,” a representative for the New South Wales police force told Fox News Digital.
A representative for Swift didn’t respond to Fox News Digital’s immediate request for comment.
Taylor and her father were seen on video walking down a jetty while holding hands. The “Midnights” singer held a black umbrella covering her face while being led by Scott to a waiting car. As the two, along with their security, approached the car and the waiting photographers, a verbal altercation began to break out, and one of the photographers alleged Scott punched him.
PHOTOGRAPHER WHO CLAIMS TAYLOR SWIFT’S DAD ASSAULTED HIM SPEAKS OUT: ‘I WAS NOT AGGRESSIVE’
Taylor Swift’s dad, Scott Swift, was not charged after being accused of assaulting a photographer. (Getty Images)
“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 Taylor told Fox News Digital at the time.
However, the photographer claimed there was no aggression.
“There was no situation where we were aggressive,” Ben McDonald, 52, told Fox News Digital of the alleged altercation. “You know, I was not aggressive. They just didn’t call for it, you know what I mean?”
He added, “I think that the security detail were annoyed by the fact that we discovered where they were getting her off” their yacht.
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Taylor Swift’s dad was accused of assaulting a photographer while they were in Australia for “The Eras Tour.” (Getty Images)
Swift’s team was using umbrellas to shield the pop star from photographers, he said. “Here’s what they do this time around is they shoved it at us, you know, like, they’re shoving the umbrella at us,” McDonald explained.
“I couldn’t see in front of me. I didn’t know what was going on behind the umbrella. At one point, I tried to move the umbrella away from my face. It was right up in my face. I couldn’t see. And then the next thing you know, they shoved harder, and then the next, her father has taken, charged at me and punched me in the face,” he alleged.
After the alleged assault there was an “exchange of words,” he said. “So then they got in the car and took off, and then I went into the cop shop and reported it.”
Taylor Swift took “The Eras Tour” to Australia in February. (Getty Images)
Nicole Kidman won a court battle against McDonald and another photographer in 2005 and got a restraining order against him after a listening device was found on her property in Sydney, according to People magazine.
At the time, a lawyer for McDonald issued a statement, according to The Telegraph: “He denies emphatically he has anything to do with planting any listening device.”
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Swift first performed for “The Eras Tour” in Melbourne, Australia, beginning Feb. 16. The pop star took the stage in front of 288,000 total fans at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The capacity of the stadium is 96,000, which is the largest crowd she’s played for in her career, and she did it three nights in a row.
Taylor then traveled to Sydney, Australia, where she played four back-to-back shows at the Accor Stadium.
Taylor Swift performed in Melbourne and Sydney. (Getty Images)
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Fox News Digital’s Tracy Wright contributed to this report.
