Taylor Swift owes us nothing

Taylor Swift has broken her silence on the cancellation of her Vienna shows due to a credible threat of terrorism. Believe it or not, some people are angry it took her this long to comment, and some are angry at the comment itself.

Both groups need to take a deep breath and calm down because Taylor Swift owes us nothing. Here is the statement Swift made, via her Instagram:

Here is the caption in its entirety:

In summation
We have officially wrapped the European leg of The Eras Tour. With it came the most passionate crowds I’ve ever played for, new traditions in the show, and an entirely new era added in. It was a more hectic pace than we’d done before, and I’m so proud of my crew/fellow performers for being able to physically perform that show and build our massive stage, take it apart, and make magic with so few days in between for recovery and travel. They’re the most impressive people I know and I’m so lucky they gave The Eras Tour their time, their energy, and their expertise.
Walking onstage in London was a rollercoaster of emotions. Having our Vienna shows cancelled 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. I was heartened by the love and unity I saw in the fans who banded together. I decided that all of my energy had to go toward helping to protect the nearly half a million people I had coming to see the shows in London. My team and I worked hand in hand with stadium staff and British authorities every day in pursuit of that goal, and I want to thank them for everything they did for us. 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.
In cases like this one, ‘silence’ is actually showing restraint, and waiting to express yourself at a time when it’s right to. 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. 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.

Taylor Swift

She further went on to comment below the post:

We had some EPIC surprise performances from my long time friends @teddysphotos, @florenceandthemachine, and @jackantonoff. Performing ‘Florida!!!’ with Flo for the first time was unforgettable and Ed took me right back to our old Red Tour memories. It was the most dizzying honor to become the first solo artist to play Wembley 8 times in one tour. To the fans who have seen us this summer, you’ll always have the most sparkling place in my memories. You were a dream to perform for, dance with, and share those magical moments with. We’ll see you all again when we resume The Eras Tour in October, but for now we get to take a much needed rest. Thank you for the adventure of a lifetime. May it continue…
???❤️???????

Taylor Swift

There are many valid reasons to criticize Taylor Swift, the billionaire CEO in charge of her very successful brand: Private jet usage! A knack for releasing dozens of variants to one album for reasons known only to herself! However, people are simply too weird about demanding anyone in the public eye release a statement on everything, all the time, as soon as it happens. Swift herself calls that out in her initial statement: “In cases like this one, ‘silence’ is actually showing restraint.”

I’m so irritated that I’m here, defending a celebrity who can buy a private island if it catches her fancy, but here we are. Taylor Swift is a human being, in addition to being the most popular pop star in the world, and we are not entitled to access to the private thoughts, feelings, and rollercoaster of emotions the human behind the brand is experiencing just because we have a parasocial relationship with her and, thus, think we know her. We simply do not.

This is a woman whose concert was subject to a horrifying plot to “‘kill as many people as possible outside the concert venue’ with explosives and knives,” according to reports. Keep in mind, that’s just what they’re releasing to the public. Let’s also not forget that three little girls were murdered at a Taylor Swift friendship bracelet-making party because some horrendous piece of trash decided to target the event and stab innocent people. We, the public, do not need to be privy to Swift’s private thoughts, nor do we need her to release a statement on what she’s going through and how awful both situations are.

They are objectively horrible situations. Anyone with an ounce of common sense would know that already, so why were some people clamoring for her to release a statement so quickly after both events? She’s not a political figure. She hasn’t been elected by anyone to be in charge of public safety, so she wouldn’t be sharing vital information for the public good. She’s a pop star trying to put on a concert. Genuinely, I am posing this question to the world: How does Taylor Swift commenting on a matter make it any less terrible, or add anything to the discourse around it? The concerts didn’t get any less canceled by her commenting or not. So why bust out the pitchforks on the whole thing?

It sucks when plans get interrupted by awful people, who want to hurt us. However, as Swift points out: It’s far better to grieve concerts than lives. Yeah! Of course it is! So why did Forbes, of all publications, write an entire article dedicated to Swift’s non-response, at the time, a few days ago? Have we, as a society, lost all common sense? (Note, Forbes has taken down the article, and wiped it from their site, but you can see this Reddit thread from r/TaylorSwift discussing it, and sharing quotes from it.)

Like I said, there are many reasons to be critical of Swift, or any celebrity. However, it’s important to remember they owe us nothing. They’re selling us a product, and if you don’t like it, you don’t have to buy it. In Swift’s case, you don’t have to listen to her music, attend her concerts, or even pay attention to her. Additionally, we don’t know her! We know her brand, her music, and what she chooses to release to the public, but that doesn’t entitle us to 24/7 access to her or any other public figure.