Taylor Swift’s concert at London’s Wembley Stadium later this month is set to go on as scheduled, presumably with extra security measures specifically designed to thwart potential terrorists.
The move comes after three of her Erastour concerts in Vienna were cancelled after she was targeted in an Islamic State-linked terror plot and thwarted by U.S. and Austrian authorities, Breitbart News reported.
TMZ Reports Taylor’s three upcoming London shows will likely require additional private anti-terrorism security guards.
The media reported that Wembley Stadium generally has high security measures in place and is one of the safest stadiums in Europe in terms of anti-terrorism measures, especially compared to similar venues, but concerns remain.
The pop megastar will wrap up the European leg of his Eras tour in London on August 15th, 16th, 17th, 19th and 20th.
Britain’s Police Minister Diana Johnson confirmed that Scotland Yard was currently assessing intelligence ahead of the concert.
“The police obviously look at all the information and make decisions and assess the risk of any event that happens in this country. That’s the police’s job,” Mr Johnson told LBC radio.
Do you think she’ll learn anything from it? https://t.co/BEBLZ2BA2N
—Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) August 8, 2024
The minister also said there was provision to invoke the Martin Act “to ensure that premises likely to be subject to terrorist attack have all the necessary measures in place to keep people safe, which the Government will introduce shortly”.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said he understood why Vienna cancelled Swift’s show, but said “we will go on with the show.”
However, TMZ reports that the presence of anti-terrorism guards shows that Wembley Stadium, police and concert organisers are taking a safety-first approach to Taylor’s London show.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby spoke to reporters on Friday about the U.S. role in providing intelligence to Austria related to the Swift concert.
“The United States remains committed to our counterterrorism mission, working closely with partners around the world to monitor and disrupt threats. As such, as part of that effort, the United States shared intelligence with our partners in Austria to enable them to disrupt the threat to Taylor Swift’s Vienna concert,” he said.
In 2019 Interview and Elle Speaking to The Beatles magazine, Swift said being attacked at one of her concerts was her “biggest fear.”
“After the Manchester Arena bombing and the Las Vegas concert shooting [also in 2017]”I was really scared to go on this tour because I didn’t know how to keep 3 million fans safe for the next 7 months.”
She added: “A huge amount of planning, expense and effort has gone into keeping fans safe.”
