Taylor Swift Addresses Cancellation of Vienna Shows Due to Terror Plot: ‘New Sense of Fear’
Taylor Swift is speaking out after three Eras Tour Vienna shows were canceled due to an alleged terror plot.
"Having our Vienna shows cancelled was devastating. 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," Swift, 34, wrote via Instagram on Wednesday, August 21, in a lengthy caption. "But I was also so grateful to the authorities because thanks to them, we were grieving concerts and not lives. I was heartened by the love and unity I saw in the fans who banded together. I decided that 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. My team and I worked hand in hand with stadium staff and British authorities every day in pursuit of that goal, and I want to thank them for everything they did for us."
Swift went on to address the amount of time it took her to address the canceled shows.
"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," she 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 is with great relief that I can say we did that."
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Elsewhere in the caption, Swift celebrated the end of the European leg of the Eras Tour, which wrapped with three shows at Wembley Stadium, thanking "the most passionate crowds I've ever played for" and noting that "walking onstage in London" after missing the Vienna shows was "a rollercoaster of emotions."
The singer’s remarks came after concert organizers Barracuda Music confirmed the cancellations via Instagram on August 7.
“Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour Vienna shows [have been] canceled due to government officials’ confirmation of planned terrorist attack,” the statement read. “With confirmation from government officials of a planned terrorist attack at Ernst Happel Stadium, we have no choice but to cancel the three scheduled shows for everyone’s safety.”
The concert organizers noted that tickets for the three performances — which were scheduled for Thursday, August 8, Friday, August 9 and Saturday, August 10 — would be automatically refunded within the next 10 business days.
Austrian police have arrested three suspects in connection with the alleged terror plot. Vienna’s State Police Director Franz Ruf and Police Chief Gerhard Purstl confirmed news of the first two arrests on August 7. One of the men taken into custody is a 19-year-old with alleged ties to ISIS. Authorities claimed that the two men had specific plans to carry out an attack during Swift’s residency at Ernst Happel Stadium.
Police raided the 19-year-old’s home on August 7 and found various chemical substances. Authorities are currently working to determine whether the materials could have been used to build a bomb.
Austria’s Minister of the Interior Gerhard Karner confirmed on August 9 that a third suspect, an 18-year-old, had been arrested. Karner said the teenager had been in contact with the 19-year-old main suspect in the case.
“He had been in contact with the main perpetrator, but is not directly connected to the attack plans,” the Austrian minister said. “But, as was found out a few days ago, he took an oath of allegiance specifically to the IS on August 6.”
Swift previously opened up about her fear of violence breaking out at one of her shows, citing the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing at an Ariana Grande concert and the mass shooting at the Las Vegas music festival Route 91 Harvest that same year.
“After the Manchester Arena bombing and the Vegas concert shooting, I was completely 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,” Swift wrote in a 2019 essay for Elle. “There was a tremendous amount of planning, expense and effort put into keeping my fans safe.”
Just last month, Swift was confronted with a violent attack on her fan base after a stabbing at a dance class themed around her music left two children dead.
“The horror of yesterday’s attack in Southport is washing over me continuously, and I’m just completely in shock,” she wrote via her Instagram Story on July 30. “The loss of life and innocence, and the horrendous trauma inflicted on everyone who was there, the families and first responders. These were just little kids at a dance class. I am at a complete loss for how to ever convey my sympathies to these families.”
The Vienna shows mark the first time Swift has canceled an Eras Tour performance since the tour kicked off in March 2023. There have been a handful of rescheduled shows due to inclement weather. In November 2023, Swift rescheduled a Buenos Aires concert due to “chaotic” conditions.
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“I love a rain show but I’m never going to endanger my fans or my fellow performers and crew,” Swift wrote via X at the time. “We’ve rescheduled tonight’s Buenos Aires show for Sunday due to the weather being so truly chaotic it would be unsafe to try and put on this concert. Good news is I get to stay in Argentina longer!!”
Later that same month, Swift postponed a Rio De Janeiro show due to extreme heat. The decision came days after a 23-year-old woman named Ana Clara Benevides Machado died from heat exhaustion after seeking medical care at another Eras Tour performance in the Brazilian city. Swift reacted to the tragedy via her Instagram Story at the time.
“I can’t believe I’m writing these words but it is with a shattered heart that I say we lost a fan earlier tonight before my show. I can’t even tell you how devastated I am by this,” she wrote. “There’s very little information I have other than the fact that she was so incredibly beautiful and far too young.”
