Taylor Swift has reacted to the thwarted terrorist attack that led to the cancellation of her Eras Tours shows in Vienna.
The mega-pop star addressed the threat of violence on Wednesday, August 21, in her first comments since the scare earlier this month.
She also defended her prolonged silence over the unnerving situation that was uncovered.
“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,” she wrote.
“But I was also so grateful to the authorities because thanks to them, we were grieving concerts and not lives.”
Three teen suspects were arrested for allegedly planning an ISIS-style terror attack at one of Swift’s Austrian concerns that included driving a bomb-filled car into the crowd to kill “as many people as possible.”
Swift said she stayed quiet on the foiled attack because she didn’t want to do more harm than good.
“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,” the singer said.
“In cases like this one, ‘silence’ is actually showing restraint, and waiting to express yourself at a time when it’s right to.”
She also said she was “heartened” by the way her fans rallied together and noted her team worked with stadium staff and British authorities to keep Swifties safe as her tour continued.
“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 also wrote.
The series of Vienna shows were scheduled for Aug. 8- Aug. 10 before the last minute cancellations.
Her last concert of the European tour was on Monday, August 19, at Wembley Stadium in England.