{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
An Australian photographer who claims Taylor Swift's father Scott attacked him early Tuesday has denied doing anything to provoke the 71-year-old.
“There was no situation where we were aggressive,” Ben McDonald, 52, told Fox News Digital about the alleged altercation. “You know, I wasn't aggressive. You just didn’t ask, you know what I mean?”
He added: “I think the security forces were upset that we found out where they took them from their yacht.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
Previously, Swift's rep told Fox News Digital: “Two individuals aggressively pushed toward Taylor, grabbed her security guards and threatened to throw a female staff member into the water.”
PETA attacks TAYLOR SWIFT and TRAVIS KELCE for visiting the Australian zoo during the ERAS TOUR stop
Taylor Swift's father is accused of attacking a photographer in Australia. (Don Arnold/TAS24/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management/Larry Busacca/ACM2015/Getty Images for dcp)
McDonald told Fox News Digital the statement was “what I would expect from them if they were trying to make a statement. I mean, they come from a very powerful place. I mean, you've got the most recognizable face on Earth.” essentially, and the biggest thing she ever was compared to The Beatles, and certainly the…four consecutive sold-out concerts in Sydney would suggest that she was absolutely huge is.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
LAWYER FOR STUDENT TRACKING TAYLOR SWIFT'S JET SAYS CUSTOMER WILL NOT 'STOP' AFTER STAR COMMANDS HIM TO STOP
McDonald said he didn't know who Scott Swift was until after the alleged incident.
McDonald said in another video filmed by a stringer: Scott gives the paparazzi “the finger” while holding hands with the 34-year-old walking down the pier.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
Taylor Swift with her parents in 2013. (Rick Diamond/ACMA2013/Getty Images for ACM)
He said at first he thought the man holding hands was the “Cruel Summer” singer, a security guard, but “I thought, wait a minute, this is weird. There would be no such security guard holding hands. And, you know, we found out that was her father. I think they were upset about the fact that we found out where it was.”
Do you like what you're reading? CLICK HERE FOR MORE NEW ENTERTAINMENT
He said that Swift's rep “said we were being aggressive and intimidating, that sort of thing.” However, “We don't have to act like that. We have never acted like this before. It is very quiet in Sydney. We don’t need aggressive situations.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
WATCH: Taylor Swift's father accused of attacking photographer in Australia
McDonald noted that heated situations usually only arise with “inexperienced” security guards, “or the security guards stand up because they're upset about something.”
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
Swift's team used umbrellas to protect the pop star from photographers, he said. “This time they're pushing it on us, you know, they're pushing the umbrella on us,” McDonald explained.
“I couldn’t see in front of me. I didn't know what was going on behind the umbrella. At one point I tried to move the umbrella away from my face. He was right in front of my face. I couldn't “I don't see it. And the next moment they thrust harder, and the next moment her father attacked me, charged at me and punched me in the face,” he claimed.
Taylor Swift is in Australia for a stop on her “Eras” tour. (Scott Eisen/TAS23/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management)
After the alleged assault, there was an “exchange of words,” he said. “So they got in the car and drove off, and then I went to the police station and reported it.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
New South Wales Police confirmed an investigation had been opened into Scott.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
According to People magazine, Nicole Kidman won a court battle against McDonald and another photographer in 2005 and obtained a restraining order against him after a listening device was found on her property in Sydney.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
At the time, a lawyer for McDonald issued a statement via Business Insider, according to The Telegraph.
“He strongly denies having anything to do with the planting of listening devices,” it said.