by: Adison Poole

On November 17^th a Taylor Swift fan passed away at her night one show in Rio de Janeiro.  

“I know a lot about the fan passing away at Swift’s Brazil show,” junior Lauryn Swierczynski said. “The fan actually passed before Swift even took the stage.”  

The 23 year old fan, Ana Clara Benevides Machado, became ill at the show due to the heat wave, with temperatures that felt over 100° Fahrenheit inside the stadium.  

With the heat wave going on outside the stadium and the number of fans inside the stadium, water was a necessity for fans in attendance.  

---

Fans who prepared for the night two concert in Pittsburgh. As can be seen, everybody had water on hand.

Pictured from left to Alexis Strouse, Lauryn Swierczynski, GS Graduate Katlyn Swierczynski, GS Graduate Josie Beckerleg and Sophie Beckerleg.

Photo courtesy of: Lauryn Swierczynski

---

“Unlike how it was for U.S. shows like mine, the international shows don’t have a seating plan,” Swierczynski explained. “In Brazil, it was basically like a mosh pit of people.” 

After the events that took place on night one, Swift decided to postpone Saturday night’s show until Monday to make changes in the stadium to prioritize fans’ safety.  

“I don’t understand why she didn’t take precautions the first night,” junior Alice Wilkinson said. “If she knew it was going to be so hot, she should’ve done something about it.”  

Due to Swift’s decision to postpone the show, she was faced with backlash from fans all over the world.  

“I saw lots of fans that took their concerns to social media mostly on TikTok,” Swierczynski said.  

Fans from all over the world were quick to give their take on the situation through posting videos or comments on social media. Sites such as X (Twitter) and TikTok were flooded with fans defending Swift or blaming her for the fan’s death and the postponed show.  

  “I absolutely love and look up to Taylor Swift,” Swierczynski said. “I don’t think Taylor should be blamed for this at all.”  

Swift is not a singer known to cancel shows. Throughout her Eras Tour, Swift has played no matter the temperature, rain or shine.  

“You have to give Taylor props because every time you cancel a show everyone involved loses money,” building substitute Mrs. Carmen Cherrington said.  

During her first night in Brazil, Swift was able to push through her over three hour long show even with the heat wave in full swing.  

“Clips surfaced of Taylor profusely sweating and her skin being visibly red,” Swierczynski said.  

Many fans were quick to point the finger at Swift and claimed she should be held accountable for the situation. However, Swift wasn’t responsible for setting the stadium’s rules.   

“I don’t think it was just her fault, but I feel like she could’ve played a bigger role in preventing the situation,” Wilkinson said. “The stadium shouldn’t have had those rules, but Taylor also shouldn’t have played there knowing the rules.”  

Fans were told the night of the show that they were not permitted to bring their own water in the stadium.  

“At the Pittsburgh Eras Tour show I went to this summer, I was allowed to take 2-3 clear sealed water bottles,” Swierczynski explained. “I went through all my water and my show was nowhere near as hot as the Brazil (show).”  

The venue of the show was the Nilton Santos Olympic Stadium. This Stadium can hold 44,661 people at a time with the ability to expand to 60,000 people for certain events. On the night of the show Swift had 60,000 fans in attendance.  

“I used to work venues, and this should have never happened,” Mrs. Cherrington said. “This absolutely cannot be blamed on Taylor.”  

The night of the show the venue’s management decided to shut the air vents inside the stadium to “improve vocals.”  

“I think the venue closing parts of the stadium affected the airflow,” Swierczynski said. “I know they were open at the Sunday night show two days later.”  

Swift was set to play November 17^th, 18^th and 19^th in Rio; instead she made the ultimate decision to postpone Saturdays show to that upcoming Monday.  

She took to Instagram to announce the decision to her fans only hours before the show.  

“I’m writing this from my dressing room in the stadium,” Swift wrote on her Instagram story. “The decision has been made to postpone tonight’s show due to the extreme temperatures in Rio. The safety and well being of my fans, and fellow performers and crew has to and always will come first.”  

The stadium full of Taylor’s fans began to boo the artist and chant against her minutes after the post went up.  

“This tragic situation upsets me, not only because of the loss of a young bright person, but also the toll it has taken on Taylor,” Swierczynski said. “There were several sources saying Taylor was crying at her hotel.”  

Fan or not, everyone is entitled to their own opinion on the situation; however, everything that played a role in the situation needs to be taken into consideration.  

“Taylor is such a big artist and with the amount of power she has, I just don’t understand why she didn’t take action sooner,” Wilkinson said.  

Swift made her attempt to resolve the situation not only by making changes to make the next two nights of the Brazil shows safer, but also by reaching out to the fan’s family and dedicating the acoustic set of the show to Machado.  

“Taylor is one of the only artists that seems like she really does care about her fans,” Cherrington said. “People need to realize that when talking about this situation.”