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Highlights

• Swift meets survivors and families affected by the Southport stabbing attack
• Backstage footage shows the singer breaking down after the private visit
• Incident adds to emotional strain following a cancelled run of shows in Vienna
• New Disney+ series offers an inside look at the pressures of the Eras Tour

Swift breaks down after private meeting

Taylor Swift is shown in tears in backstage footage after meeting survivors and families connected to the Southport stabbing attack. The private meeting took place months after the July 2024 incident, which happened at a Taylor Swift-themed dance workshop and claimed the lives of three young girls.
In the footage, Swift cries in her dressing room as her mother, Andrea, tries to comfort her. Already dressed for the show, she then prepares to perform a three-and-a-half-hour set at London’s Wembley Stadium. Speaking later at the New York premiere of her six-part Disney+ documentary, she says she felt a duty to create “some form of escape” for fans following the tragedy.

Navigating fear and responsibility

Swift says performing after the attack required emotional stamina. The series shows her reflecting on the pressures of her job, explaining that she must both process her feelings and keep lifting her energy for the crowd. The Wembley concert also marked her return to the stage after cancelling three shows in Vienna because of a terrorist threat. She says her team had “dodged a massacre situation” after the CIA uncovered a plot to detonate a bomb at the venue. After two decades of performing, Swift admits that fearing for her fans’ safety is a new and unsettling reality.