Taylor Swift was in a courtroom one year ago for her groping trial, in which a jury ruled that she was assaulted and battered by former radio host David Mueller during a 2013 meet and greet.
The 28-year-old singer nearly choked up while talking about the trial on the one-year anniversary of the verdict on Tuesday (August 14) during her reputation Stadium Tour stop in Tampa, Fla.
“A year ago I was not playing in a stadium in Tampa, I was in a courtroom in Denver, Colorado,” Taylor told the crowd (via People). “Honestly, I was there for a sexual assault case. And this day a year ago is day the jury sided in my favor and said that they believed me.”
“I guess I just think about all the people that weren’t believed and the people who haven’t been believed, and the people who are afraid to speak up because they think they won’t be believed,” Taylor said. “I just wanted to say I’m sorry to anyone who ever wasn’t believed because I don’t know what turn my life would have taken if somebody didn’t believe me when I said something had happened to me.”
“So I just wanted to say we have so much further to go, and I’m so grateful to you guys for being there for me during what was really a horrible part of my life,” Taylor continued. “I wanted to thank you for just kind of… I mean I know when I meet you guys at meet-and-greets and after the shows, you guys tell me about the hard times that you’ve gone through in your lives and I really appreciate you trusting me with that information.”
“And you know you guys have seen me go through so many ups and downs in my life just due to the public nature of the way my life is, and I wanted to say that I’m so happy to see you and to have you and know you through the ups and the downs in my life… Sorry I just haven’t really talked about it, and so I’m just not composed at all,” Taylor concluded.
Fans in the audience held up $1 bills during the speech to mark the symbolic amount that Taylor was awarded in the case.
