The radio DJ at the center of the Taylor Swift groping trial has returned to the airwaves on a Mississippi station.
David Mueller, who lost last year's highly publicized civil court case to Swift, is now co-hosting the morning show "Jackson & Jonbob" on Greenwood's KIX 92.7 under the on-air name Stonewall Jackson.
His new employer, Delta Radio CEO Larry Fuss, strongly defends the hiring, which comes six months after a Denver jury sided with Swift and found Mueller had grabbed the pop-star's backside during a meet-and-greet in Denver in 2013.
"I sat down with him face-to-face in Minneapolis before I offered him the job and talked to him about it," Fuss told the Daily News in a phone interview. "He's either the world's best liar, or he's telling the truth. I tend to believe his version of the story and most people who have talked to him face-to-face do believe his version of the story."
Mueller, who has long denied Swift's allegations, began hosting the 5 to 9 a.m. weekday show on Monday.
The hiring has been met with backlash on social media — including on the radio station's Facebook page — and Fuss has strong words for those who don't like the move.
Larry, the head of Delta Radio just told me that the station is giving David Mueller the “opportunity to work” & that he deserves a second chance. He also said that Mueller was “NEVER FOUND GUILTY of anything criminal” & that he denies assaulting Taylor Swift.
"Most of them need to get a life," he said. "Most of the response I have seen this morning— there's been quite a few on our Facebook page, and 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.
"It’s just people who don’t have a clue, or don’t really have any knowledge of the facts."
Mueller was fired from his hosting gig on the Denver station KYGO in 2013 after Swift's groping allegation emerged. He sued the singer in 2015 for costing him his job, prompting Swift to countersue on the grounds of sexual assault.
Their contentious case played out over the course of six days in court last August, where Swift testified that Mueller intentionally grabbed her while taking a photo at the Pepsi Center.
"He stayed latched onto my bare a-- cheek as I lurched away from him," Swift told the jury on the fourth day of the trial. "It was a definite grab," she said. "A very long grab."
A photo of Swift with Mueller at the meet-and-greet shows the radio host's arm extended behind the pop star, though it's unclear if he's making contact with her. Mueller told the jury he never touched the singer inappropriately. Mueller was ordered to pay out a ceremonial $1 to Swift after losing the case.
Fuss had been trying to find a morning host since the KIX station launched in July, and decided to meet with Mueller when he found out the host was seeking employment.
"There was something in the trades about Mueller looking for a job, and he said he'd go anywhere and he'd even work for free to get back on the air," Fuss said. "When I finally talked to him, I said, 'I don't expect you to work for free, but I don't have a budget like a station in Denver does.' So I told him what I could offer him and he said, 'That'd be great.' So anyway, he's working for us."
Fuss says he expected most of the backlash around Mueller to have subsided by now, adding that his station is currently deleting the negative comments being posted to the Facebook page.
Some of the employees at Mueller's new station were initially skeptical of the hiring, but Fuss says all of them — including the women — are now fine with it after meeting him.
While Fuss admits bringing Mueller aboard is "maybe a tiny bit" about additional publicity, the CEO contends it wasn't the main reason.
"In the radio business, it's all about what comes out of the speakers," Fuss said. "It's always been my goal to have something good-sounding coming out of the speakers. That's the reason I hired David. He sounds good."
Mueller broadcasted under the name Jackson while he was in Denver. Fuss decided to lengthen that name to Stonewall Jackson — a reference to the Confederate Civil War general — on KIX to give his moniker a southern spin.
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