Taylor Swift’s scheduled shows in Vienna have been cancelled due to the threat of a terror attack.
Over the weekend, the Grammy winner had been booked to perform three concerts at the Ernst Happel Stadium in the Austrian capital.
However, on Wednesday evening, it was confirmed that these plans would no longer be going ahead after two people were arrested on suspicion of planning an Islamist attack at the venue.
A statement from Barracuda music, the organisers behind the gigs, said: “Due to confirmation by government officials of a planned terrorist attack at the Ernst Happel Stadium, we have no choice but to cancel the three planned shows for everyone’s safety.”
Franz Ruf, the General Director for Public Security, said the two suspects, who were arrested on Wednesday morning in Vienna, had become “radicalised via the internet”.
One of them, a 19-year-old, had apparently made an “oath of allegiance”, to the terrorist group the Islamic State last month (as reported by BBC News).
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer described the cancellation of Taylor’s three shows as a “bitter disappointment for all fans in Austria”, but also a “tragedy prevented”.
The Fortnight singer is yet to comment publicly on the cancellation, but previously spoke out about how a terror attack taking place at one of her shows is her “biggest fear”.
“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 three million fans safe over seven months,” she wrote in a special piece for Elle magazine in 2019, after completing her Reputation stadium tour.
“There was a tremendous amount of planning, expense, and effort put into keeping my fans safe.”
She also disclosed that her “fear of violence” has “continued into my personal life”, revealing she always carries bandage dressing in case of “gunshot or stab wounds”.
“Websites and tabloids have taken it upon themselves to post every home address I’ve ever had online. You get enough stalkers trying to break into your house and you kind of start prepping for bad things,” Taylor explained.
“Every day I try to remind myself of the good in the world, the love I’ve witnessed and the faith I have in humanity. We have to live bravely in order to truly feel alive, and that means not being ruled by our greatest fears.”