As part of TIME magazine's Person of the Year issue, the singer opens up about her August hearing. 

Taylor Swift&mdash;as part of TIME Magazine&rsquo;s &ldquo;The Silence Breakers&rdquo; cover story&mdash;has finally <a href="http://time.com/5049659/taylor-swift-interview-person-of-the-year-2017/">spoken about</a> having to testify about her sexual abuse at the hands of David Mueller, a former radio DJ in Colorado. Swift went on the record about the 2013 incident after Mueller sued her for defamation.

As a woman of financial means, Swift countersued, to the tune of $1, an obviously paltry sum to a platinum-selling singer, and testified in court alongside her mother and other members of her team. Coverage from the closed-door hearing remarked on how candidly the singer spoke about the incident, granting the plaintiff and his attorney little formality. &ldquo;I had already been in court all week and had to watch this man&rsquo;s attorney bully, badger and harass my team including my mother over inane details and ridiculous minutiae, accusing them, and me, of lying&hellip;I decided to forego any courtroom formalities and just answer the questions the way it happened. This man hadn&rsquo;t considered any formalities when he assaulted me, and his lawyer didn&rsquo;t hold back on my mom&mdash;why should I be polite?&rdquo;&nbsp;

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Swift&rsquo;s hearing came before the tide of the #MeToo movement, and received relatively little coverage comparatively, but in her interview, she makes it clear why she came forward in the first place.&nbsp;

&ldquo;At the time, I was headlining a major arena tour and there were a number of people in the room that saw this&nbsp;plus&nbsp;a photo of it happening. 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.&rdquo;

Mueller has still not paid Swift a penny of the dollar she is owed. &ldquo;I think that act of defiance is symbolic in itself,&rdquo; she says of his stubbornness.&nbsp;

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Images courtesy of TIME and Billy &amp; Hells

Taylor Swift Talks About Sexual Assault Case for the First Time

L'OFFICIEL USA December 2024 - Julianne Moore Cover

L'OFFICIEL USA November 2024 - Salma Hayek Pinault Cover

Taylor Swift Talks About Sexual Assault Case for the First Time

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