After Taylor Swift's show was canceled over a terrorist plot, an interview has resurfaced in which she revealed that such a scenario would be her “biggest fear.”
The Grammy-winning artist's three The Eras tour The shows in Vienna were abruptly canceled on August 7 after the arrest of two suspects who were reportedly planning to launch a terrorist attack on the shows this weekend.
Swift's thoughts on this very fear were written in a 2019 article for Ellawhere she spoke candidly about her anxiety about performing live in the wake of the 2017 ISIS bombing of an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, and the mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest Music festival in Las Vegas.
The Manchester attack resulted in 22 deaths and over 200 injured, while the Las Vegas shooting claimed 64 lives and left 413 injured.
“My biggest fear,” Swift wrote at the time, “After the Manchester Arena bombing and the Vegas concert, 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. There has been a tremendous amount of planning, expense and effort to keep my fans safe.”
“My fear of violence carried over into my personal life,” he said, adding that he carried an “army-style QuikClot bandage, which is for gunshot or stab wounds.”
These fears were unfortunately echoed with the recent events in Vienna.
On Wednesday, August 7, Austrian police confirmed the arrest of two suspects involved in planning a terrorist attack on Swift's concerts at the Ernst Happel Stadium. The suspects, a 19-year-old Austrian national, were allegedly radicalized online and had pledged allegiance to Islamic State in July.
“The suspects focused on Taylor Swift's concerts,” said Austrian Director General of Public Security Franz Ruf. NY Post. “We discovered that he was taking action to prepare for the attack,” he added. “A clear threat averted.”
The planned attack forced Barracuda Music, the concert's promoters, to cancel shows scheduled for August 8-10.
“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,” said a statement from Barracuda Music, which was also reposted by Taylor Nation on Instagram. All tickets will be automatically refunded within the next 10 working days.
Swift's concerts in Vienna would be the second-to-last stop on the European leg of her The Eras tourfive nights ago at London's Wembley Stadium from August 14-18.
She is set to return to North America in October for the final leg of her tour, which will conclude at the end of the year. However, the cancellations in Vienna have cast a shadow over an otherwise highly successful tour.
See Barracuda Music's statement below.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/taylor-swift-terror-fear-vienna-1235749136/
