Taylor Swift’s father is being investigated by Sydney police over an alleged assault of a photographer after the singer’s final Australian concert on Monday.
Police confirmed an investigation was started after a 51-year-old photographer alleged that Scott Swift, 71, punched him as the singer was returning to her Sydney hotel. Neither man required medical treatment.
“The younger man reported the incident and inquiries are now underway by officers attached to North Shore Police Area Command,” a police spokesman said.
Ben McDonald, the chief executive of Matrix Media Group, confirmed to the Sydney Morning Herald that he was the paparazzo involved in the alleged incident and that it involved Swift’s father.
“I was just out on the job chasing Taylor,” he said. “She got off a superyacht at Neutral Bay and walked up the wharf with an umbrella over her head and a couple of security [guards] around her. Security sort of pushed us around with the umbrellas.
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“Then her dad decided to add to the mix and throw a punch in,” he alleged. Other than a “sore left chop”, McDonald said he did not suffer any serious injuries. “It was a shock … There was no need for it, the security had it under control,” he said. “I’ll leave it in the police’s hands now.”
A spokesman for the singer said: “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.”
McDonald said the spokesman’s response was an “absolute fabrication”.
“It’s an absolute lie,” he said. “There was no other female there other than Taylor Swift. There was no aggressive behaviour. The aggressive behaviour was completely on their part. It’s an attempt to change the narrative.”
He added: “In 23 years of doing this I’ve never been assaulted, let alone been punched in the face by a father.”
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Swift, 34, completed her run of blockbuster Eras Tour shows in Australia on Monday after playing three nights in Melbourne and four nights in Sydney. She is set to travel to Singapore in March for six performances.
The pop star’s father, often referred to as “Papa Swift” by fans, was a stockbroker who became vice-president of the investment bank Merrill Lynch.
His acts of kindness have become an element of the tour. After Swift’s first Melbourne show, a fan publicly shared a story about how he helped obtain access to the VIP section for a woman and her daughter who had “cheap, restricted seats”.
He also handed out free fruit and sandwiches at one of the Sydney shows last week, encouraging fans to help themselves as Midnight Rain began playing in the background.
In December the music industry magazine Pollster reported that the Eras Tour had become the first tour ever to gross more than $1 billion from the 60 concerts performed between November 2022 and November 2023.
