Six months after a jury found he had groped Taylor Swift's butt at a 2013 Denver meet and greet, radio DJ David Mueller has landed a new job at a Mississippi station, where the CEO is having to defend the decision to hire him.
Mueller sued Swift in 2015 for $3 million alleging defamation after he was fired when Swift claimed, "He grabbed my bare ass." Swift countersued for $1, and won a civil trial by jury in August after giving a frank, damning testimony against Mueller. Swift asked for only $1 in damages in what her attorney said was a symbolic gesture to show other women "you can always say no."
But Larry Fuss, the CEO of Delta Radio in Mississippi, has given Mueller a new job hosting a radio show as "Stonewall Jackson" on the morning show Jackson and Jonbob on KIX-92.7.
The decision has prompted an outcry from Swift's fans.
Larry Fuss, #TimesUp. You might want to look into the hashtag. Because I can tell you right now, the backlash yo… https://t.co/VGEqu1KEXV
Absolutely livid and disgusted that this coward gets to hide behind an alias and continue his career after what he… https://t.co/Ip4FiTWzJJ
In an interview with New York Daily News, Fuss said he met with the DJ face to face to hear his side of the story before hiring him.
Fuss said he thought the controversy over Mueller had blown over by now, but also admitted "maybe a tiny bit" that the hiring was a publicity stunt.
As for the backlash Delta Radio is now facing, Fuss said commenters on the station's Facebook page "need to get a life."
"None of it is radio people, none of it is local people in Mississippi. It's all originating from some Taylor Swift fan group somewhere. They're telling people to go to this station's webpage and post negative comments," Fuss said. "It’s just people who don’t have a clue, or don’t really have any knowledge of the facts."
Fuss said station staff has mostly been fine with the hiring of Mueller after meeting the DJ, and the station has taken to deleting any negative comments on his Facebook page.
Representatives for Swift did not immediately respond to a request for comment.