Taylor Swift Makes ‘Extremely Generous’ Donation to Joyful Heart Foundation
Making good on her promise to donate to organizations that help sexual assault victims following her victory in her lawsuit vs. Denver radio DJ David Mueller, Taylor Swift has given money to the Joyful Heart Foundation. The organization is, its CEO tells the Huffington Post, one of several that will benefit from Swift's pledge.
Founded in 2004 by actress / director / producer Mariska Hargitay, the Joyful Heart Foundation is, in Hargitay's words, “a national organization with the mission to transform society’s response to sexual assault, domestic violence and child abuse." Best known for her role as Detective Olivia Benson on Law & Order: SVU, Hargitay began the Joyful Heart Foundation after receiving letters from viewers who were opening up about their own experiences with sexual assault.
“The experience of sexual assault and domestic violence can be extremely isolating,” Hargitay says. “One of the most important points we make to survivors is this: You are not alone.”
Joyful Heart Foundation CEO Maile M. Zambuto says that the organization is among the first, but will not be the only, to receive a donation from Swift. She did not reveal the amount of Swift's donation but noted that it is an “extremely generous financial investment in the movement to end sexual violence.”
“Taylor is aware of the Joyful Heart Foundation and follows our work,” Maile M. Zambuto, CEO of the Joyful Heart Foundation, says (Swift and Hargitay are friends; one of Swift's cats is named for Hargitay's SVU character). “Her team got in touch with me, and we talked a lot about her commitment, all along throughout this ordeal, to wanting to be of service to survivors."
Swift's donation will help the Joyful Heart Foundation's advocacy, education and healing programs.
On Monday (Aug. 14), just a few hours after closing arguments were made in Swift's lawsuit vs. Meuller, the jury unanimously determined that Swift was, indeed, groped by Mueller during a meet and greet in 2013, and found that Swift’s mother Andrea and her radio rep, Frank Bell, did not interfere with Mueller’s employment at Denver radio station KYGO-FM. The jury awarded Swift the symbolic $1 she asked for in her countersuit; they awarded Mueller nothing.
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