Taylor Swift has canceled three shows on her Eras Tour after an alleged terrorist plot. On Wednesday (Aug. 8), Austrian authorities said that two suspects have been arrested following an alleged terrorist plot in the Vienna region.
Once Austrian authorities made the announcement, Swift canceled her three concert days in Vienna, which were scheduled to begin on Thursday, August 8, and continue on Friday, August 9, and Saturday, August 10, at the Ernst-Happel-Stadion. According to authorities, the two suspects were targeting major events in the city which included the globally popular Eras Tour.
“The two suspects became radicalized by the internet, a 19-year-old citizen of Lower Austria made an oath of allegiance to the current leader of IS at the beginning of July,” police said per TODAY.
With the information given to authorities, there was “no choice” but to cancel the shows as a precaution.
“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,” concert promoter Barracuda Music said in a post on social media.
As for fans who purchased tickets to the show, fans will automatically get a refund within the next 10 days.
What Taylor Swift Has Said About Concert Tragedies
Back in May 2017, a suicide bomber killed 22 people at an Ariana Grande show in Manchester, England. That same year, in October, there was a Las Vegas shooting that killed 60 people at the Route 91 Harvest music festival when the gunman opened fire from a high-rise hotel. Those events prompted Swift to speak out about the heightened awareness of fans at concerts due to the tragic events.
“After the Manchester Arena bombing and the Vegas concert shooting, 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,” Swift wrote in an essay to Elle in 2019. “There was a tremendous amount of planning, expense, and effort put into keeping my fans safe.”
Swift has not personally posted about canceling her shows at the time of this writing. Her next stop on the tour is London starting on Aug. 15. There have been no news of any further cancelations on her tour.