Taylor Swift as part of the Eras tour in East Rutherford (Photo EPA / TASS)
American singer Taylor Swift expressed that she was “overwhelmed with a new sense of fear” following the thwarted terrorist plot targeting her concerts in Vienna. In her first public reaction since the news broke, Swift shared her feelings of devastation over the cancellation of the shows, Reuters reported on Wednesday.
The singer also praised the authorities who intervened to prevent the plot, which aimed to inflict significant harm at the Ernst Happel Stadium, where her Eras Tour concerts were scheduled to take place.
“Thanks to them [the authorities], we are mourning the concerts, not lives lost,” Swift wrote on Instagram, addressing the situation publicly for the first time since the planned attack was revealed two weeks ago.
Austrian police arrested a 19-year-old man who confessed to planning a “bloodbath” at Swift’s concerts.
“Canceling the Vienna concerts was heartbreaking,” Swift said. “The reason for the cancellation filled me with a new sense of fear and immense guilt, knowing that so many people had planned to attend the shows.”
Swift explained that she decided to “channel all of [her] energy into ensuring the safety of the nearly half a million people attending [her] shows in London.”
She also clarified why she had not previously commented on the terror plot aimed at her Vienna concerts. The London concerts went off without incident, with the final show taking place on Tuesday, marking the end of the European leg of her Eras Tour.
“I chose not to speak on this issue sooner because I didn’t want to jeopardize the remaining shows,” Swift explained. “I want to be very clear: I won’t publicly address anything if I believe it could provoke those who wish to harm my fans.”
“In situations like this, ‘silence’ is actually a sign of self-restraint,” she added.
The Eras Tour, now the highest-grossing tour in history, is currently on a break. It will resume with a final series of concerts from October to December in the United States and Canada.
