Taylor Swift broke down in tears after meeting survivors and families of the victims of the Southport stabbing attack, backstage footage from her Eras tour reveals.
The star met privately with some of those affected by the attack in July 2024, which took place at a Taylor Swift-themed dance workshop, and claimed the lives of three young girls.
She then had to pick herself up and perform for three and a half hours at London’s Wembley Stadium.
Speaking to select members of the media, including the BBC, at the New York premiere of her new six-part Disney+ documentary, Swift revealed she had felt compelled to “create some form of escape” for her fans.
“From a mental standpoint, I do live in a reality that’s unreal a lot of the time,” the star says in the first episode. “But I need to be able to handle all the feelings and then perk up and perform.”
Adding to the emotional burden, the Wembley show also marked Swift’s return to the stage after cancelling three concerts in Vienna, Austria, due to a terrorist threat.
In her own words, the tour narrowly “dodged a massacre situation” when the CIA identified a plot to explode a bomb at the concert.
Swift said that, after performing for 20 years, “being afraid that something is going to happen to your fans is new”.
