Taylor Swift fans have blasted the singer for her “lack of empathy” after she addressed the Vienna show cancellations and the foiled terror plot.
In a statement posted to Instagram earlier this week, Swift did not directly address the 200,000 stranded fans who had bought the tickets, and were out thousands of dollars..
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“Walking onstage in London was a rollercoaster of emotions. Having our Vienna shows cancelled 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,” Swift wrote in part.
“My team and I worked hand in hand with stadium staff and British authorities every day in pursuit of that goal, and 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,” she added.
Erica Vuitton of Kips Bay, who paid $1,200 for the hotel and $4,500 for the flight, said Swift’s statement is “absolutely ridiculous and completely lacks empathy.”
“She is not the big-hearted fan-loving performer she pretends to be. It’s sad that the rose-tinted Taylor glasses were ripped off,” Vuitton added, according to New York Post.
Swift’s Instagram statement was posted two weeks after the incident. Explaining her silence, she wrote in the post, “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.”
Jessica Smith, 33, of Colorado, said the words Swift used in her post were upsetting. “The phrase, ‘Let me be clear,’ felt like an attack for us,” said Smith. She had paid $4,500 for her trip to Vienna with her husband, Luke.
“We, the fans, were also scared for our safety and went through a lot of emotions and just wanted some sign that she cared. Instead, we got silenced and then basically reprimanded in the statement for wanting closure.
It just felt like a rushed statement to shut us up,” Smith added. Although the Vienna shows, which were scheduled to be held on August 8, 9 and 10, were cancelled, the singer still continued to perform in her planned shows in London. Vuitton, 55, said this did not make sense amid the terror threat.
“She pops up a week later at Wembley, known for riots by overzealous Londoners, with Ed Sheeran and clearly no fear in the world,” Vuitton said.
“Not what you would expect from someone whose entire persona is about being mama bear to her Swifties.” Smith said that it was disappointing that Swift’s statement appeared to focus more on the shows in London than on Vienna.“Vienna got three sentences and the rest was about how perfect London was,” she said.
Some fans, however, think that Swift’s silence was justified.
