Taylor Swift has explained why she initially stayed silent after canceling her Vienna shows due to an ISIS terror attack threat .
The 34-year-old singer was forced to cancel the concerts on August 7 after police intercepted plans for an ISIS-linked terror attack at the shows . Taylor has now taken to Instagram to share a statement about what happened.
She said safety was her number one priority and chose not to speak out sooner so she could finish the rest of her European tour . Taylor wrote: "In cases like this one, 'silence' is actually showing restraint, and waiting to express yourself at a time when it's right to. My priority was finishing our European tour safely, and it is with great relief that I can say we did that."
Elsewhere in the statement, Taylor praised her Eras Tour crew and thanked fans for their support. "We have officially wrapped the European leg of The Eras Tour. With it came the most passionate crowds I’ve ever played for, new traditions in the show, and an entirely new era added in," she wrote.
The singer continued: "It was a more hectic pace than we'd done before, and I'm so proud of my crew/fellow performers for being able to physically perform that show and build our massive stage, take it apart, and make magic with so few days in between for recovery and travel. They're the most impressive people I know and I’m so lucky they gave The Eras Tour their time, their energy, and their expertise."
Speaking about what happened in Vienna, Taylor admitted she felt a "rollercoaster of emotions". She added: "Having our Vienna shows canceled was devastating.
"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. But I was also so grateful to the authorities because thanks to them, we were grieving concerts and not lives.
"I was heartened by the love and unity I saw in the fans who banded together. I decided that all of my energy had to go toward helping to protect the nearly half a million people I had coming to see the shows in London."
Taylor explained how her team joined forces with stadium staff and British authorities to ensure they protected fans. She continued: "I want to thank them for everything they did for us. Let me be very clear: I am not going to speak about something publicly if I think doing so might provoke those who would want to harm the fans who come to my shows."
Finishing her statement, the pop star wrote: "London felt like a beautiful dream sequence. All five crowds at Wembley Stadium were bursting with passion, joy, and exuberance. The energy in that stadium was like the most giant bear hug from 92,000 people each night, and it brought me back to a place of carefree calm up there."
A 19-year-old man was the first to be arrested in connection to the terror attack plot. "His aim was to kill himself and a large number of people during the concert," DSN chief Omar Haijawi-Pirchner said in a news briefing.
Associates of the arrested suspect were allegedly employed with the security company in charge of Taylor's shows. The accomplices had jobs with both a private security firm and a stewarding service organizing the concerts.
Karl Nehammer, the Chancellor of Austria, said in a statement on X: "Thanks to the intensive cooperation of our police and the newly established DSN (Directorate for Security and Intelligence) with foreign services, the threat was identified early on, combated, and a tragedy was prevented."
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