Blake Lively reacts to ‘terrifying’ plot against friend Taylor Swift’s cancelled Vienna concerts

Your support helps us to tell the story

Support Now

Find out moreClose

In my reporting on women's reproductive rights, I've witnessed the critical role that independent journalism plays in protecting freedoms and informing the public.

Your support allows us to keep these vital issues in the spotlight. Without your help, we wouldn't be able to fight for truth and justice.

Every contribution ensures that we can continue to report on the stories that impact lives

Kelly Rissman

US News Reporter

Blake Lively has responded to the terror plot against her friend Taylor Swift’s Eras tour concerts in Vienna, Austria.

At the London premiere of her film It Ends with Us on 10 August, Lively was asked how she felt about “the Austria concerts”.

“Oh my gosh. I mean, how terrifying,” she said. “But thank goodness that they are completely on top of that.”

Fans were devastated when Swift’s concerts, scheduled for 8-10 August at the Ernst Happel Stadium, were cancelled after police arrested two people suspected of planning a major attack at one of the performances.

A third suspect was arrested last week.

The main suspect, a 19-year-old Austrian, was “clearly radicalised in the direction of the Islamic State and thinks it is right to kill infidels”, security officials said.

After the arrests, Barracuda Music, the company managing the concerts, said that it had “no choice but to cancel the three scheduled shows for everyone’s safety”.

“All tickets will be automatically refunded.”

Swift is scheduled to perform next in London from 17 to 20 August at Wembley stadium.

But many fans are having second thoughts about attending the shows, with ticket resale website Viagogo showing dozens of tickets for London dates still listed. Ticketmaster too is showing a number of tickets as available for the usually sold-out shows.

Lively and Swift have been friends for nearly a decade. Lively’s daughter’s voice is heard in the beginning of Swift’s song “Gorgeous” and Lively has directed Swift’s “I Bet You Think About Me” music video.

Swift is also the godmother to Lively’s children with husband Ryan Reynolds.

Lively can currently be seen in the new film adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s bestselling 2016 romance, It Ends with Us, directed by and also starring Justin Baldoni.

The story follows Lively’s Lily Bloom, who aims to fulfil her lifelong dream of opening a flower shop. After a chance meeting with charming neurosurgeon Ryle, played by Baldoni, Lily falls madly in love and they start a whirlwind romance.

But when Lily’s first love Atlas, played by Brandon Sklenar, re-enters her life, she’s left with an impossible choice.

The Independent’s Clarisse Loughrey gave the film two stars, calling it “sincere but completely ludicrous”.

“This tale of a dramatic love triangle between characters named Lily Bloom, Atlas Corrigan and Ryle Kincaid can’t square its violent themes with its inherent silliness,” she writes.