After canceling three Amidst the terrorist threats facing singer Taylor Swift, who is celebrating her 17th birthday in Vienna, Austria, with concerts being held there, the artist took to social media to share a statement expressing her gratitude to her crew, authorities and fans.
After thanking her team for being able to “physically perform this show, build our massive stage, tear it down and make magic with only a few days in between to recover and travel,” Swift spoke about the Vienna cancellations, calling them “devastating.”
“The cancellation of the shows filled me with a new sense of fear, and an enormous amount of guilt because so many people had planned to come to those shows,” she wrote. “But I was also so grateful to the authorities because thanks to them, we were grieving for the shows, not the lives. I was comforted by the love and unity I saw in the fans who came together. I decided to go all out to help protect the nearly half a million people who had come to see the shows in London.”
The singer added that she and her team “worked side by side with stadium staff and the UK authorities every day in pursuit of this goal.” Swift also explained why she decided to speak out about the terror threat now, saying: “Let me be very clear: I will not speak out publicly if I believe that doing so may provoke those who want to harm the fans who come to my shows.”
“In situations like this, silence actually means showing restraint, waiting to express yourself at the right time,” she continued. “My priority was to finish our European tour safely, and I am very relieved to say that we succeeded in doing so. Then London felt like a beautiful dream sequence.”
Swift concluded her statement by praising the crowds that filled each of the five sold-out nights at London's Wembley Arena, saying the energy “was like a big bear hug from 92,000 people every night, and it took me back to a place of calm and carefree being there.”
Following the failed terror plot, ticketing agency oeticket announced the cancellation of the concerts in Vienna, which were scheduled to take place between August 8 and 10, in an Instagram post on August 7. “With government officials confirming a planned terror attack at the Ernst Happel Stadium, we have no choice but to cancel the three scheduled shows for everyone’s safety,” the statement read.
Police in Vienna say they have arrested two men who were planning to carry out attacks across the city. The men, one of them aged 19, allegedly pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group and were radicalized online. Authorities discovered chemicals after the 19-year-old was detained. They were allegedly stolen from his workplace for the purpose of making a bomb. Officials say the suspect planned to drive into the crowd outside the stadium armed with knives and machetes.
“His goal was to kill himself and a large crowd of people,” said Omar Hegawi-Pirchner, head of Austria’s State Security and Intelligence Directorate. The 17-year-old suspect is said to have worked for a company that caters for concerts at the Ernst Happel Stadium. He was nearby at the time of his arrest.
A third suspect was later arrested in connection with the terror plot. Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner confirmed that an 18-year-old man was arrested on August 8. The suspect is alleged to have been in contact with the 19-year-old who was previously arrested. Karner added that the arrest coincided with investigators beginning to look into the “networks” of suspects involved.
The three concerts were initially scheduled to go ahead after the alleged planned terror attack, but hours after the failed attack, the venue announced the shows would not go ahead due to safety concerns. In Vienna, on the day of the first show’s cancellation, hundreds of fans took to the streets to sing along to Swift’s songs and exchange friendship bracelets. While the unorganized gathering raised safety concerns, Swift’s fans saw it as a way to combat hate and violence.
“I think this is a powerful message to send to the world: We will not change ourselves or what matters to us, we will not change our values or our favorite artist,” said one fan present at the rally. Rolling Stone Later that day. “We will not let this get us down. We are showing the world that we come back stronger with unity and love by supporting each other during these difficult times.”
Security experts said the decision to cancel the three shows was straightforward. “There was a credible terrorist threat, linked to ISIS,” said Steve Adelman, a lawyer who serves as vice president of the Juvenile Safety Coalition. “The man who was arrested had the means to commit mass murder.” Rolling Stone“This is more than enough to warrant cancellation.”
Swift previously spoke about concerns about terrorist attacks in a 2019 interview with she“After the Manchester Arena bombing and the Las Vegas concert shooting, I was absolutely terrified to go on tour this time because I didn’t know how we were going to keep 3 million fans safe over seven months,” she said at the time. “There was an enormous amount of planning, expense and effort put into keeping my fans safe.”
