Taylor Swift’s father has been accused of punching a paparazzo who was photographing the megastar while she celebrated the end of her tour of Australia.

New South Wales Police said they were investigating a 71-year-old man for the alleged assault of a photographer in Sydney in the early hours of Tuesday. The accuser identified the man as Scott Swift. 

“Police have been told a 71-year-old man allegedly assaulted a 51-year-old man at Neutral Bay Wharf about 2:30am (15:30 GMT Monday), before leaving the location,” police spokeswoman Alicia McCumstie told AFP.

“The younger man reported the incident and inquiries are now under way by officers attached to North Shore Police Area Command.”

The alleged victim, Ben McDonald, said he had been photographing the US pop icon on a “super yacht” in Sydney Harbour after the last of her four gigs in the city.

Mr McDonald alleges Swift’s security put an umbrella in his face to prevent him from taking photographs of the musician as she walked down the jetty to a waiting vehicle.

After Swift departed, Mr McDonald claimed a man confronted him and “he punched me in the chops”.

“I didn’t know who he was, but I looked at photos and saw him holding hands with Taylor, and it was her dad.”

He added: “It was a shock. That’s never happened to me in 26 years.”

A spokesperson for Taylor Swift accused two unnamed individuals of pushing, grabbing and threatening behaviour at the time the photographer was allegedly assaulted.

“Two individuals were aggressively pushing their way towards Taylor, grabbing at her security personnel, and threatening to throw a female staff member into the water,” the spokesperson told AFP.

Taylor Swift is currently in the midst of her worldwide blockbuster Eras Tour.

She heads to Singapore this week for the next leg of what is expected to be the highest-grossing musical tour of all time at over $1 billion, according to Pollstar.