Taylor Swift’s squeaky-clean image has taken some hits in recent months, but the singer and her team still carefully guard her reputation as America’s sweetheart.
In fact, it seems that the Swift camp is taking greater measures than ever to ensure that the usually-candid singer’s private life remains private these days.
Things have gotten so bad that Taylor’s legal team is taking steps to block media access to photos of a fully clothed Taylor standing in public, because they may do further damage to Taylor’s reputation and affect the outcome of an ongoing civil trial.
Obviously, some backstory is needed here:
Back in 2013, Taylor claimed she was groped by a radio DJ named David Mueller during a promotional event.
Mueller sued Taylor, insisting that he never touched her, and her complaint caused him to get fired.
Taylor countersued, and the matter is on the verge of being settled in court.
But according to TMZ, these days, Taylor is more concerned about preventing evidence in the case from going public than she is with the judge’s decision.
The site has obtained court documents in which Taylor’s attorneys ask the judge to have photos that allegedly show Mueller inappropriately touching Swift sealed in a private file:
The lawyers say their concerned that the pics might be “be shared for scandalous and prurient interests.”
“The interest in a fair and impartial trial outweigh any public interest in access to the documents identified above,” the attorneys write.
There are many reasons that Taylor might want to prevent the public from seeing the photos, but they might serve as valuable evidence to help support her case in the court of public opinion.
Given some of the slanderous claims that Mueller has made about Taylor’s behavior, it’s somewhat surprising that she’s not in favor of photos that would back up her version of events going public.
That said, she’s under no obligation to prove anything to her haters, and if Taylor feels uncomfortable with the pics going public, it should be her right to have them sealed.
Unfortunately, there’s already been some social media backlash from fans who claim that Taylor is either lying about her encounter with Mueller, or that she’s desperate to perserve what remains of her public image.
From a PR perspective, the summer was a nightmarish one for Taylor:
Her breakup with Tom Hiddleston prompted a firestorm of negative attention, including rumors that she’d cheated on Calvin Harris with Hiddleston.
Shortly thereafter, Kim Kardashian called Taylor out for lying about a conversation she had with Kim’s husband, Kanye West.
Kim came equipped with video to prove her point.
Obviously, these instances have little to do with Taylor’s latest legal wranglings.
Still, when you’re a celebrity of her caliber, fans and haters alike are bound to dissect your every move.
And in this case, they’re seeing sings that the world’s most popular singer is deeply concerned about the way she’s being perceived these days.