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Taylor Swift’s father has been accused of assaulting an Australian photographer on a wharf on the Sydney Harbour early on Tuesday after the singer’s final concert, according to the police.
Local media identified the paparazzo as Ben McDonald, the chief executive of Matrix Media Group, who was photographing Swift as she got off a yacht at the Neutral Bay wharf around 2am following a late-night cruise on the Sydney Harbour.
“Police have been told a 71-year-old man allegedly assaulted a 51-year-old man,” the New South Wales Police said in a statement, without naming Swift’s father, Scott.
“The younger man reported the incident and inquiries are now underway by officers attached to North Shore Police Area Command. The man did not require medical treatment,” according to the police.
Swift was with her father at the time but had entered a car when the alleged assault occurred, according to state broadcaster ABC. “He’s charged in and punched me in the face,” McDonald told the outlet.
“In 23 years of doing this I’ve never been assaulted, let alone been punched in the face by a father,” he said.
“I didn’t realise it was her dad at the time,” he told The Guardian. “It was a bit of a shock but I’ll leave the police to do their job.”
A spokesperson for Taylor Swift told the Rolling Stone two people were acting “aggressively” towards Swift and her entourage when the incident occurred.
“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 in a statement.
The ABC reported the photographer said Swift‘s entourage used umbrellas to try and prevent him taking photographs and in the alleged altercation Swift‘s father became involved.
Swift‘s Australian leg of her record-breaking Eras tour wrapped up on Monday evening.
