After canceling three concerts in Vienna targeted by a thwarted ISIS-connected terrorist plot, Taylor Swift is still due to perform at Wembley Stadium in London for five more dates in August, Variety has confirmed.
As of Thursday morning U.K. local time, the shows had not been canceled.
Sources tells Variety Swift’s team are currently working closely with both tour promoter AEG and Wembley to review the situation, including any additional security measures that may be implemented.
When reached by Variety, AEG declined to comment.
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Set for Aug. 15-20, the London concerts are the last dates on the international leg of her Eras tour before returning to North America. Wembley Stadium is in the process of beefing up security measures for Swift’s concerts, according to a hospitality staffer at the concert venue. Details on the ramped up security protocol will be communicated later.
U.K. policing minister Diana Johnson has said Scotland Yard is evaluating intelligence ahead of Swift’s London concerts. “Clearly, the police will be looking at all the intelligence and making decisions, they risk assess every event that happens in this country, and that’s something for the police,” Johnson told LBC Radio. The minister also said that there is a provision to invoke Martyn’s law, which “is about making sure that those venues which could be subject to terrorist attack have in place everything that they need in terms of keeping people safe, and that will be brought forward by the government shortly.”
London’s Metropolitan Police added that there was “nothing of note” to report regarding the Swift concerts and promised updates.
Swift previously announced that her five London shows will each feature a high-profile special guest, including indie pop star Sofia Isella, Holly Humberstone, Suki Waterhouse and Maisie Peters. Like her June playdates in London, all the shows are sold out.
There have been heightened fears around concert venues since the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017, when an Islamic terrorist detonated a suicide bomb during an Ariana Grande concert, killing 22 people and injuring over a thousand others, most of the children and teenagers. (Following the bombing, legislation called Martyn’s Law was introduced in the U.K. requiring public venues to implement security measures relating to terrorist threats.)
Two years earlier Islamic terrorists stormed the Bataclan Theatre in Paris during a performance by Eagles of Death Metal, killing over 90 people inside the venue and injuring hundreds more. A further 40 people were killed in co-ordinated attacks taking place in other parts of Paris on the same evening.
In 2019, Swift wrote a piece for ELLE magazine saying an attack during one of her concerts was “my biggest fear. “After the Manchester Arena bombing and the [2017] 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.”
“There was a tremendous amount of planning, expense, and effort put into keeping my fans safe,” she continued, adding that her “fear of violence” led her to always cary “army grade bandage dressing” for gunshot or stab wounds wherever she goes.
The law and order situation in the U.K. appeared to have calmed on Wednesday night after thousands of anti-racism protesters took to the streets, countering a week of anti-immigrant rioting and disorder. Riots ravaged the country over the past week, following the killing of three children at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport on July 30. Swift expressed her shock at the murders.
Axel Rudakubana, 18, has been charged with the murders of the children and 10 counts of attempted murder. Initially, his identity was withheld due to U.K. law granting anonymity to minors in court proceedings. This led to a spread of misinformation online, with false claims about the suspect’s background going viral and inflaming far-right sentiment. Gangs attacked immigrants and minorities and looted shops. More than 400 arrests have been made.
There’s also been swirling rumors about Swift’s participation in the closing ceremony of the Olympics on Aug. 11 in Paris. While the event’s organizers have not confirmed Swift’s involvement, a source close to Paris 2024’s organizing committee said the security protocol for these Olympics, including the closing ceremony at the Stade de France, is already at its highest level. France has increased its security alert to the highest level since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack in Israel and the deadly attack at a Russian concert hall in March which was claimed by ISIS. Organizers of the Olympics’ ceremonies, including Thomas Jolly and Thierry Reboul, have also filed a complaint after receiving death threats, some of which cited verses of the Quran, saying that the “Allah’s punishment will fall down on the organizers in Saint Denis.” The Stade de France is located in Saint-Denis, according to Le Parisien newspaper.
Swift was scheduled to perform today, Friday and Saturday nights at Vienna’s Ernst Happel Stadium as part of her Eras Tour but canceled the shows after learning from government officials of a planned terrorist attack. According to international reports, two suspects were arrested, including a 19-year-old suspect who pledged his allegiance to ISIS and was living with his parents in the town of Ternitz, and another man with whom he was in contact. Both were arrested on Wednesday after police raided the 19-year-old’s home and found various chemicals and substances. Residents of Ternitz were allegedly evacuated and roads were closed during the raid.
In a post from Austrian concert promoter Barracuda Music, organizers wrote that they had “no choice but to cancel the three scheduled shows for everyone’s safety.”
