Taylor Swift’s dad, Scott Swift, is being accused of assaulting an Australian photographer early on Tuesday morning in Sydney.
“Police have been told a 71-year-old man allegedly assaulted a 51-year-old man at Neutral Bay Wharf about 2.30am before leaving the location,” a NSW Police spokesperson confirmed to the Sydney Morning Herald.
Ben McDonald, the alleged victim, did not require medical treatment.
According to the Daily Mail, the singer and her father, who is known as “Papa Swift” to her fans, had been partying after her final show aboard a super yacht called Quantum.
After the ship docked, Scott Swift allegedly saw McDonald taking pics and “charged” at him.
McDonald told the Daily Mail that he thought the aggressor was a security guard and was very surprised to discover it was the pop star’s dad.
“In 23 years I have never seen anything like it,” McDonald told the paper.
Although McDonald said he doesn’t know why Swift went after him, he said the singer’s dad “probably decided he needed to defend his daughter, for some reason”.
He said Taylor Swift got off the boat and was walking toward security guards, “who were shoving umbrellas in our faces”.
McDonald said that that was when Scott Swift “charged” him. He told the Daily Mail he was left with “very sore chops” on the left side of his face.
Page Six reported that photos taken around the time of the alleged assault show the Grammy winner and her father walking off the dock with a black umbrella that covered the singer from the waist up.
A Taylor Swift spokesperson told HuffPost that “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”.
According to a 2005 People article, Nicole Kidman was granted a restraining order against McDonald and another photographer, saying their presence had made her a “virtual prisoner” in her home.
Scott Swift has been quite visible during the Australian leg of his daughter’s Eras tour.
During Friday’s show, he was seen handing out sandwiches to fans, and at Saturday’s show he posed for a selfie with Rebel Wilson.