Taylor Swift is speaking out about the terror threats that led her to cancel a series of shows in Vienna earlier this month.
In a new Instagram post, Swift celebrated her Eras Tour wrapping up in Europe by sharing a carousel of moments from her shows at Wembley Stadium in London. In the caption, she referenced the scare in Austria.
View full post on Instagram“Having our Vienna shows cancelled was devastating,” the singer wrote. “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. 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.”
Swift was forced to cancel three shows in the Austrian capital at the beginning of August, when she received “confirmation by government officials of a planned terrorist attack at Ernst Happel Stadium.” Approximately 65,000 fans had been expected to attend the shows, but they were guaranteed a full refund following the cancellation. A few days later, two suspects were arrested in connection with the threats.
Following the news, some fans criticized Swift for not speaking up about the threat, given that she has posted about tragedies at her shows in the past. However, the pop superstar clarified her reasoning in her recent post.
“Let me be very clear,” she wrote. “[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. 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.”
While we’ve come to the end of the European leg, the world-dominating Eras Tour isn’t quite finished yet. In the fall, Swift is set to return to North America for a second string of shows in the United States, as well as her first in Canada. The final concerts will take place in Vancouver in December, and they will certainly mark the end of a career high for the singer.
Since its debut in spring 2023, the Eras Tour has broken record after record, becoming the highest-grossing concert tour of all time and spawning a film that then become the highest-grossing concert film of all time. As of this writing, the Eras Tour has grossed over $1 billion in sales.
