The photographer that Taylor Swift‘s father, Scott Swift, allegedly attacked in Australia this week says he’s willing to put this whole thing behind them … on one condition.
Ben McDonald — the paparazzo who claimed Scott roughed him up Tuesday as he and Taylor’s security team were trying to escort her to a waiting SUV in Sydney — tells 360aproko that all would be forgiven if Papa Swiftie just issued an apology.
If Scott did that … Ben says he’d accept it and drop all this, letting bygones be bygones.
Of course, Scott doesn’t seem inclined to admit he did anything wrong — remember, a rep for Taylor told us the paps that night were being very aggressive and claimed they were the ones in the wrong … something Ben here tells us is BS.
He insists the visuals speak for themselves — and says he suspects the reason Taylor and her team (including her security detail) got so pissy is because they realized paps had figured out where they were after a ride on a yacht. Ben tells us he was just doing his job.
While Ben says the events of that night are well-documented, he does admit that he doesn’t have any further proof that Scott punched him — as he claims — beyond the videos that are already out there … including the one he shot himself, and another that has since surfaced.
In both videos, you cannot clearly see what Scott’s doing … but Ben’s sticking to his claim that the guy got physical with — as did Taylor’s security guards, whom he alleges used their umbrellas on him. As we reported … cops are investigating Ben’s claims at the moment.
One last point of clarification we got from Ben. It’s been reported he was involved in another high-profile pap run-in with none other than Nicole Kidman back in 2005 — when she was reportedly granted a restraining order against him and another photog over alleged surveillance via a listening device — but Ben tells us that story is old and sensationalized.
He denies planting any listening device near Nicole at the time … and also notes that while she might’ve been granted a temporary protective order, a judge didn’t find enough evidence to grant her a permanent one once they took a closer look at her claims.
Bottom line … Ben doesn’t think he crossed any lines here, and claims Scott totally did.
