Taylor Swift has broken her silence about the terror plot that was allegedly thwarted during her cancelled Vienna concert earlier this month.
The pop star, who played the final of five shows at London’s Wembley Stadium on Tuesday, mourned the end of the European leg of her Eras tour in an Instagram post on Wednesday, informing fans that she waited until this moment to address the situation in Vienna for their safety.
“I was shocked when our Vienna show was cancelled and the reason for the cancellation left me with a new sense of fear and immense guilt as so many people had planned to come,” Swift wrote in the caption, “But I am so grateful to the authorities as they spared us all the grief of our concert and no loss of life.”
She continued, “I have been heartened by the love and solidarity shown by my fans, and am determined to do everything in my power to protect the nearly half a million people who came to see me perform in London. My team and I have been working every day with stadium staff and the UK authorities to achieve this goal, and I want to thank them for all they have done.”
“I want to be clear: I am not going to speak about something publicly if I believe it could inspire people to seek harm against the fans who come to my shows,” she wrote.
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“In a case like this, ‘silence’ is actually about showing restraint and waiting until the right time to express yourself. My number one priority was successfully completing my European tour and I’m very relieved to say I have done so.”
Taylor Swift’s full statement regarding Vienna show and end of European leg of ERAS tour
“To sum up,” her Aug. 21 Instagram post began.
“The European leg of The Eras Tour has officially concluded, ushering in a whole new era with our most enthusiastic audiences yet and adding new show traditions. The pace has been more hectic than ever, but I’m so proud of my crew and fellow performers who found just a few days between recovery and travel to physically perform the show, assemble and dismantle the massive stage, and deliver magical performances. They are some of the most amazing people I know and I am so lucky to have them dedicate their time, energy and expertise to The Eras Tour.
“Stepping onto the stage in London was a rollercoaster of emotions. It was a shock when the Vienna show was cancelled. Hearing the reason for this brought with it a new sense of fear and immense guilt as so many people had planned to come to the show. But we are also grateful to the authorities, as thanks to them we only had to mourn the concert and not our lives.”
“We have been heartened by the love and solidarity of our fans who have come together and are determined to do everything in our power to protect the almost half a million people who have come to watch the match in London. My team and I have been working every day with stadium staff and the UK authorities to achieve this goal and I would like to thank them for all they have done.”
“I want to be very clear: I’m not going to speak publicly about something if I think it could inspire people to seek to harm fans who come to my shows.”
“In a case like this, ‘silence’ is actually about showing restraint and waiting to express yourself at the right time. My number one priority was to successfully complete my European tour and I’m very relieved to say I have done so.”
“And London felt like a beautiful dream sequence. All five crowds at Wembley Stadium were full of passion and joy and energy. The energy in that stadium was like the biggest bear hug from 92,000 people every night and it transported me back to that carefree, calm place.”
“We had amazing surprise performances from longtime friends @teddysphotos, @florenceandthemachine and @jackantonoff. Performing ‘Florida!!!’ for the first time with Flo was unforgettable and Ed quickly brought back memories of the old Red tour. It was an incredible honour to be the first solo artist to play Wembley Stadium eight times in one tour.”
“To all the fans who saw us live this summer, you are the brightest spot in my memory. It was a dream come true to perform in front of you, dance with you and share magical moments with you. We will see you all again in October when we resume The Eras Tour, but for now we will be taking a much needed break. Thank you for the adventure of a lifetime and here’s to many more…”
