Taylor Swift has broken her silence after canceling three shows in Austria due to an alleged terror attack plot.
On August 7, concert organizers Barracuda Music canceled three of the 34-year-old's shows in Vienna's Ernst-Happel-Stadion after police were alerted to the threat of planned attacks.
The planned attack was uncovered by Austrian authorities who eventually arrested three teenage suspects – aged 17, 18, and 19.
The main suspect, believed to be a 19-year-old, was radicalized online and swore an oath of allegiance to the Islamic State, per the New York Times.
According to Franz Ruf, the head of public safety in Austria, one of the suspects admitted that they intended to drive a car into a group of revelers outside the venue before attacking people with machetes and knives, per the Daily Mail.
They also confessed to planning to “kill as many people as possible outside the concert venue," as reported by The Guardian.
Furthermore, a report from Associated Press stated that investigators discovered bomb-making materials and technical devices that indicated “concrete preparatory acts,” at one of the suspects' homes.
On Wednesday (August 21), the 'Love Story' singer addressed the planned attacks in an Instagram post celebrating the end of the tour’s European leg, which concluded with five London shows this past week.
She defended her prolonged silence over the alarming situation, writing: "Having our Vienna shows canceled 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," she continued.
Read Swift's post below:The 'Cruel Summer' songstress said she stayed quiet on the foiled attack because she didn’t want to do more damage.
“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 explained. “In cases like this one, ‘silence’ is actually showing restraint, and waiting to express yourself at a time when it’s right to."
Swift thanked her supporters for their “love and unity” and said all her energy went into protecting “the nearly half a million people I had coming to see the shows in London” in the aftermath of the Vienna cancellations.
Swift noted in her post that her team worked with stadium staff and British authorities to keep fans safe as during her London shows.
"My priority was finishing our European tour safely, and it is with great relief that I can say we did that. And then London felt like a beautiful dream sequence. All five crowds at Wembley Stadium were bursting with passion, joy, and exuberance," she penned.
"The energy in that stadium was like the most giant bear hug from 92,000 people each night, and it brought me back to a place of carefree calm up there," she concluded.
The pop star will return to North America in November and December for a string of Canadian shows that will conclude the Eras tour
