Taylor Swift revealed on Wednesday that a “new sense of fear” came over her after authorities uncovered a plot to attack her Vienna concert venue, as well as guilt for letting down fans by cancelling her three shows in the city. The singer also applauded authorities for foiling the plan to cause mass harm at Ernst Happel Stadium, the venue where she was scheduled to play. (Also Read: Is Taylor Swift singing Donald Trump for President? Here’s the truth)
What Taylor said
“Thanks to them, we were grieving concerts and not lives,” Taylor said on Instagram in her first public comments since news of the planned attack surfaced two weeks ago. Police in Austria arrested a 19-year-old man who they said confessed to wanting to cause a “bloodbath” at Swift’s Eras Tour shows.
“Having our Vienna shows cancelled was devastating,” Taylor said. “The reason for the cancellations filled me with a new sense of fear, and a tremendous amount of guilt because so many people had planned on coming to those shows.” she said she decided “all of my energy had to go toward helping to protect the nearly half a million people I had coming to see the shows in London.”
The singer said she had not commented earlier because she did not want to risk provoking harm at future concerts. “Let me be very clear: I am not going to speak about something publicly if I think doing so might provoke those who would want to harm the fans who come to my shows,” Swift wrote. “In cases like this one, ‘silence’ is actually showing restraint. and waiting to express yourself at a time when it’s right to. My priority was finishing our European tour safely, and it’s with great relief that I can say we did that,” she added.
What happened in Vienna?
Concert organiser Barracuda Music had said it cancelled the three-night Vienna run that would have begun on August 8 because the arrests made in connection to the conspiracy were too close to showtime. Authorities said a 19-year-old suspect had planned to target spectators outside the Ernst Happel Stadium with knives or homemade explosives, hoping to “kill as many people as possible.” Austrian officials said they appeared to have been inspired by the Islamic State group and al-Qaida.
That suspect and another 17-year-old were taken into custody on August 6, the day before the shows were announced as cancelled. A third suspect, 18, was arrested on August 8. The 19-year-old’s lawyer has said the allegations were “overacting at its best,” and contended Austrian authorities were “presenting this exaggeratedly” in order to get new surveillance powers. Tens of thousands of Swifties from around the world had travelled to Vienna for the shows.
The London dates took place without incident and concluded on Tuesday, ending the European leg of the record-breaking Eras Tour. However, the shows in London, the next stop scheduled after Vienna, also came on the heels of a stabbing at a Swift-themed dance class that left three little girls dead in the UK. In a statement issued after the Southport attack, Swift said she was “just completely in shock” and “at a complete loss for how to ever convey my sympathies to these families.” News outlets reported that Swift met with some of the survivors backstage in London.
The Eras Tour, the highest-grossing concert tour in history, is now on a scheduled break. It will resume with final dates from October through December in the United States and Canada, starting with Miami.
