David Mueller: I Touched Taylor Swift in Denver but Didn't Grab Her Bare Bottom

Update: Since last year, we've been covering the dueling lawsuits between former Denver DJ David Mueller and pop star Taylor Swift over allegations that he touched her inappropriately during a meet-and-greet prior to a June 2013 concert at the Pepsi Center.

In his lawsuit (which mentions Westword's inquiries into the matter), Mueller proclaimed his innocence and blamed Swift's accusations for his loss of a $150,000-per-year gig at KYGO. Swift countersued, maintaining that Mueller "took his hand and put it up my dress and grabbed onto my ass cheek."

After being petitioned by attorneys representing both Mueller and Swift, a judge refused to release a photo of the pair that was thought to show the moment in question.

However, TMZ managed to get a copy of the shot anyhow. Here it is.

The latest? Mueller has made his first public comments about his actions during an appearance last week on Mojo in the Morning, a Detroit radio program. And while he acknowledges that he did touch Swift while posing for the photo, he portrays the contact as innocent — and he passionately denies reaching under the skirt and clutching her behind.

"My right hand — I'm looking at the photographer and I'm trying to, you know, get my right hand behind Taylor," Mueller says in audio excerpted below. "Because Shannon [Melcher, his onetime KYGO co-host] was on the other side of Taylor, okay? My other hand, I think, was on my belt or on my pocket — my left hand. So my right hand, I've got my hand down and my palm closed and I reach behind toward Taylor. Our hands touched and our arms crossed. That's all I remember."

After reiterating that "our hands touched and our arms crossed at one point," Mueller stressed, "My hand was not touching her body. This is what I can tell you: My hand was never under her skirt. I never grabbed her. My hand was not open. What I was told that night and what I was told the next day were different. But what I'm hearing now is that I stuck my hand under her skirt and grabbed her bare bottom."

In his view, being publicly condemned by Swift "is actually the worst possible scenario for me, because if I was arrested, I would have my day in court. You're innocent until proven guilty. I would have a chance to defend myself in criminal court. I never got a chance to defend myself. I never got my day in court. My program director never came to my assistance at the arena that night. The police never showed up. I didn't know what to do."

Mueller added: "I've never been in trouble in my life. I've never been in trouble for anything. I've never been inappropriate with any women. My girlfriend and I were standing outside the arena after they threw us out, and we were looking at each other, and we didn't even know what to say or do. We got in my car. We started driving home. I actually contacted a criminal attorney, and I thought for sure I was going to get arrested. I thought for sure I was going to have charges."

Controversy flared after the Mojo in the Morning interview aired — but not because of anything Mueller said. The audio from the conversation was originally posted on the program's website before reportedly being pulled at the behest of iHeartMedia, which owns the show.

No, iHeartMedia doesn't also hold the deed for KYGO. However, Swift has done plenty of promotions for the company over the years, and observers speculate that iHeartMedia execs didn't want to do anything to alienate her. (Reps for Swift and Mueller have denied that they asked for the audio to be removed.)

Here's a key portion of Mueller's comments.