LONDON (AP) 鈥� Two weeks after organizers amid a foiled terror plot, the singer issued her first statement on the cancellations.
鈥淗aving our Vienna shows cancelled was devastating,鈥� she wrote in a statement posted to Instagram on Wednesday. 鈥淭he 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.鈥�
She thanked authorities 鈥� 鈥渢hanks to them, we were grieving concerts and not lives,鈥� she wrote 鈥� and said she waited to speak until the European leg of her Eras Tour concluded to prioritize safety.
鈥淟et 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,鈥� she wrote.
In the wake of the cancellations, Swift's representatives did not respond to multiple requests for comment from The Associated Press and other news organizations and her social media pages had gone dormant.
鈥淚n cases like this one, 鈥榮ilence鈥� 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's with great relief that I can say we did that,鈥� she added.
had said it canceled the three-night Vienna run that would have begun Aug. 8 because the arrests made in connection to the conspiracy were too close to showtime. Authorities said a 19-year-old suspect had planned to target spectators outside the Ernst Happel Stadium with knives or homemade explosives, hoping to 鈥渒ill as many people as possible.鈥� Austrian officials said they the Islamic State group and al-Qaida.
That suspect and another 17-year-old were taken into custody on Aug. 6, the day before the shows were announced as canceled. A Aug. 8. The the allegations were 鈥渙veracting at its best,鈥� and contended Austrian authorities were 鈥減resenting this exaggeratedly鈥� in order to get new surveillance powers.
from around the world had traveled to Vienna for the shows.
Swift's Instagram post also commemorated the end of the European leg with a tribute to her which she said factored into her decision to wait to speak out and ultimately 鈥渇elt like a beautiful dream sequence.鈥�
鈥淚 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,鈥� she wrote the day after her last Wembley concert. 鈥淢y team and I worked hand in hand with stadium staff and British authorities every day in pursuit of that goal.鈥�
The shows in London, the next stop scheduled after Vienna, also came on the heels of a in the U.K. In a statement issued after the Southport attack, Swift said she was 鈥渏ust completely in shock鈥� and 鈥渁t a complete loss for how to ever convey my sympathies to these families.鈥� News outlets reported that Swift met with some of the survivors backstage in London.
The record-smashing tour is on hiatus until October, when it resumes in Miami.
The Associated Press
