Taylor Swift once revealed her “biggest fear” was the possibility of a terrorist attack at her concert — five years before authorities arrested two suspects targeting her Eras Tour.
In 2019, the pop star admitted in a column for Elle that she was “terrified” of gathering thousands of fans in an arena after “the Manchester Arena bombing and the 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,” Swift said ahead of “Lover Fest,” which was canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“There was a tremendous amount of planning, expense, and effort put into keeping my fans safe,” she added.
In May 2017, a suicide bomber killed 22 people and injured hundreds at Ariana Grande’s concert in Manchester, England. Five months later, a lone gunman murdered 58 people at an outdoor country music festival in Las Vegas.
The 34-year-old said her “fear of violence” bled into her “personal life” and she began carrying “army grade bandage dressing” — specifcally “for gunshot or stab wounds” — after the horrifying events.
The “Fortnight” singer, who has dealt with a number of stalkers over the years, said her personal information being available online only heightened her anxiety.
“You get enough stalkers trying to break into your house and you kind of start prepping for bad things,” she candidly explained.
Despite her fear, Swift said she tries to remind herself “of the good in the world, the love [she has] witnessed and the faith [she has] in humanity.”
“We have to live bravely in order to truly feel alive, and that means not being ruled by our greatest fears,” she concluded.
Thankfully, authorities in Austria were able to stop the singer’s biggest fear from coming true on Wednesday after intercepting a terrorist attack.
Franz Ruf, the director-general for public safety in the Ministry of the Interior, revealed they arrested two people with ISIS connections who planned to target one of her three shows in Vienna.
One of the suspects was a 19-year-old Austrian citizen, whose home they raided, according to Austrian news outlet Kronen Zeitung.
Police reportedly discovred various chemicals and substances inside the teen’s property, where he lived with his parents.
The age and identity of the second suspect has not been revealed.
During a press conference, Ruf said the two radicalized themselves online and pledged allegiance to the leader of the Islamic State last month.
