Taylor Swift says she is devastated after having to cancel her Vienna concerts this month after Austrian officials said a terrorist plot targeted his concert was foiled.
The mega pop star was due to perform August 8-10 at the Ernst Happel Stadium in front of around 170,000 fans as part of the international leg of his Eras tour – but the concerts were cancelled after Austrian police said on August 7 that a planned terrorist attack had targeted the concerts.
After news of the plot broke, Barracuda Music, the event’s organizer, said it had “no choice but to cancel” the shows “for everyone’s safety.” Taylor Nation, an Instagram account run by Swift’s team, reposted the message. Fans were told tickets would be refunded.
Swift posted an Instagram story on Wednesday about the situation, after waiting nearly two weeks until her final show in Europe ended.
“The cancellation of our Vienna shows was devastating,” Swift said the day after her final concert at London’s Wembley Stadium. “The reason for the cancellations has left me with a new sense of fear and an overwhelming sense of guilt, because so many people had planned to come to these shows.”
But she also said she was comforted by the love and unity fans have shown after the difficult time. Swift added that her silence so far was due to safety concerns.
“In cases like this, silence is actually a form of restraint, waiting to speak out at the appropriate time,” she wrote. “My priority was to complete our European tour safely, and it is with great relief that I can say that we have achieved that.”
What we know about the terrorist plot
The investigation was triggered by a tip from U.S. intelligence services, which led local authorities to arrest several suspects.
Austrian authorities provide further details on the planned attacks.
The main suspect is described as a 19-year-old Austrian national of North Macedonian origin who had confessed to planning to kill himself and a large number of other people with knives and explosive devices, according to Omar Haijawi-Pirchner, the head of Austria’s State Security and Intelligence Directorate.
The suspect had consumed radical Islamist propaganda, mainly from the Islamic State terrorist group and al-Qaeda, officials said. He had downloaded bomb-making manuals, and hydrogen peroxide, homemade explosives, detonators and detonation cables were found in his apartment, Haijawi-Pirchner told reporters.
The second suspect is a 17-year-old Austrian citizen of Turkish and Croatian origin. ISIS and al-Qaeda elements were found in his home, authorities said.
He was arrested near the stadium and was employed by a company that allegedly provided services at the concert, authorities said.
Police also found videos and screenshots of home labs, often shared by ISIS and al-Qaeda, on the suspects’ cellphones.
Haijawi-Pirchner said authorities also questioned a 15-year-old Austrian national of Turkish origin.
On August 9, Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said a third teenager had been arrested, an 18-year-old Iraqi citizen who was part of the main suspect’s “personal entourage.”
“The situation is serious. But we can also say that a tragedy has been avoided,” Karner said on August 8.
Fears of attacks at concerts
In 2019, Swift opened up to Elle magazine about her fears of a terrorist attack at one of her stadium concerts.
“After the Manchester Arena shooting and the Vegas concert shooting, I was absolutely terrified to go on tour this time because I didn’t know how we were going to keep three million fans safe for seven months,” Swift said ahead of Lover Fest, which was later canceled due to the Covid pandemic.
She added that she had started wearing military-grade bandages designed to control bleeding from traumatic injuries.
Swift and her father also discussed safety in her 2020 Netflix documentary, “Miss Americana,” in which she expressed her intention to break her silence on politics. She said it was important to her to speak out against former President Donald Trump and Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee.
Scott Swift said he was “terrified” for his safety and was the man who “went out and bought armored cars.”
“I need to do this… Dad, I need you to forgive me for doing this, because I do,” Swift replied.
In her message posted Wednesday, Swift thanked authorities for their work in keeping her and her fans safe by exposing the plot. She wrote that she had decided to focus all of her energy on the safety of the “nearly half a million” fans who attended her Wembley concerts after the plot was uncovered.
“My team and I have worked hand in hand with the stadium staff and the UK authorities every day to achieve this goal, and I want to thank them for everything they have done for us,” Swift wrote.
Swift, 34, is the first solo artist to sell out Wembley eight times in a single tour, having played three times in June and five times in August. Each night, the Eras tour show played to 92,000 people in London.
Swift praised the crowd’s joy and exuberance, saying it “brought him back to a place of calm and carefree up there.”
“To the fans who saw us this summer, you will always have the brightest place in my memories,” Swift wrote. “It was a dream to perform for you, to dance with you, and to share these magical moments with you.”
