CELEBRITY
Taylor Swift’s Vienna Eras Tour Concerts Canceled After Police Discover Terrorist Attack Plot
Taylor Swift‘s Eras Tour stops in Vienna have been canceled following the arrest of two suspects who reportedly planned to unleash a terrorist attack on the shows this weekend.
The news comes via a Wednesday (Aug. 7) social media statement from Barracuda Music, the concert promoters for the Austrian shows that were planned for Aug. 8-10. “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,” reads the message, which Taylor Nation also reposted on its Instagram Story. “All tickets will be automatically refunded within the next 10 business days.”
The announcement comes hours after police confirmed that a 19-year-old Austrian citizen was arrested Wednesday morning for planning an unspecified terrorist attack on Vienna, the focus of which was supposed to be Swift’s concert. A second suspect was arrested in the afternoon, according to ABC News.
The outlet also reports that Franz Ruf, director-general for public safety in the Ministry of the Interior, claimed in a press conference that the suspects had radicalized themselves online, with the 19-year-old allegedly pleading allegiance to the leader of the Islamic State in July. Before the shows were canceled, Ruf had said that security would be increased at the concerts, which were expected to attract 65,000 concertgoers each day.
The “Fortnight” singer’s shows in Vienna would have marked the Eras Tour‘s second-to-last stop on its European leg, followed by a five-night stint at London’s Wembley Stadium, for which Swift recently announced five new opening acts. In October, she’ll return to North America for one final lap through the U.S. and Canada before ending the global trek once and for all at the end of the year.
See Barracuda Music’s statement below.