LONDON (AP) — Two weeks after organizers scrubbed Taylor Swift’s concerts in Vienna amid a foiled terror plot, the singer issued her first statement on the cancellations.
“Having our Vienna shows cancelled was devastating,” she wrote in a statement posted to Instagram on Wednesday. “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 expressed gratitude to the authorities, stating, “Thanks to them, we were grieving concerts and not lives.” She explained that she chose to remain silent until the European leg of her Eras Tour ended to prioritize safety.
“I want to be clear: I won’t publicly address something if I believe it could provoke those who might wish harm on the fans attending my shows,” she wrote.
Following the cancellations, Swift’s team did not respond to multiple requests for comment from The Associated Press and other media outlets, and her social media remained inactive.
“In situations like this, ‘silence’ is about exercising restraint and waiting for the right time to speak out. My priority was completing our European tour safely, and I’m relieved to say that we achieved that,” she added.
Concert organizer Barracuda Music canceled Taylor Swift’s three-night Vienna run, set to begin on August 8, due to arrests made close to showtime. Authorities revealed that a 19-year-old suspect had planned to attack spectators outside the Ernst Happel Stadium using knives or homemade explosives, aiming to cause mass casualties, allegedly inspired by ISIS and al-Qaida
The suspect, along with a 17-year-old, was arrested on August 6, followed by an 18-year-old on August 8. The 19-year-old’s lawyer dismissed the charges as exaggerated. The cancellations affected tens of thousands of fans who had traveled to Vienna for the concerts.
Swift’s Instagram post also commemorated the end of the European leg with a tribute to her five nights at London’s Wembley Stadium, which she said factored into her decision to wait to speak out and ultimately “felt like a beautiful dream sequence.”
