The Week Taylor Swift And Blake Lively Lost Mindfulness
It’s been 13 days since the announcement that Taylor Swift’s three concerts in Vienna would be cancelled due to a security threat, and the singer has remained silent to the nearly 200,000 fans who bought tickets for the sold-out shows, many of whom had already traveled to Vienna by the time the announcement was made. Official ticket-holders will receive refunds, but not for flights and hotels booked — and yet Swift, and her official fan club Taylor Nation, have said nothing to fans since the shows were cancelled just one day before the first concert.
Many Vienna ticket-holders are furious, responding to the Taylor Nation Instagram: “I’m blown away by your SILENCE on Vienna. We traveled from other countries to see you!!!!! Just SAY SOMETHING. SAY YOU ARE SORRY, SAY YOU’RE RESCHEDULING!!!” (@jojokoulermou), “I’ve never heard silence quite this loud.” (@sylviasanta_95), and @frenchymarie13 writing, “Her silence has marked the [d]eath of my Swiftie Era.”
The same day as Swift’s first scheduled show in Vienna, her friend Blake Lively caused a furor when she answered a question about domestic violence, the subject of her new film It Ends With Us, in a lighthearted, sarcastic manner.
I teach mindfulness professionally, and I believe being mindful is ultimately about being aware, not just of what you say but also how it will land. As longtime pollster Frank Luntz writes, “It’s not what you say, it’s what people hear.” Lively proceeded to answer the question thoughtfully, but it was too late — her lack of sensitivity struck many as tone deaf.
When she is ready, I hope Lively issues a mindful apology for her joking manner around a serious topic that impacts so many.
As for Swift, Vienna ticket-holders (including, full disclosure, this writer) who traveled to attend the Austria shows from Asia, Australia, Africa, the Middle East, and across North America and Europe are now flooding Taylor Nation instagram posts with upset comments (Swift’s own account has comments turned off).
In Facebook groups of Vienna ticket-holders, fans by the thousands question why Swift hasn’t issued a statement of empathy, or at least put up a broken heart emoji next to an Austrian flag. Diehard fans write that they feel, like Cla Ra, “This is so gaslighting and disrespectful” and that, “she doesn’t deserve my support after this.” Nathalie Carter shared that after traveling from Canada with her daughter, spending thousands and also hours and hours making bracelets and outfits, “it’s devastating to feel forgotten .. my little girl’s heart is shattered.” To some, Swift’s silence feels especially bruising because her brand is largely crafted around care and feelings. Helmut Zinz writes, “I slowly believe that we, the fans, who have invested so much heart and soul, love and money .. we were probably just fooled from the beginning. Where is all the love and care, understanding that she preaches in all her songs?”
Mindfulness would invite Swift to be kind. And respectful of the sacrifices people made to support her. Swift could issue a thoughtful statement that she is “heartbroken not to be together” or “devastated to think about the effort you spent to attend these shows” or, as many Vienna ticket-holders are saying, anything at all. Holding awareness of fans left to gather in downtown Vienna and sing together acapello, Swift could highlight that the concerts were cancelled for the safety and protection of concert-goers and share how sad she was to cancel them, showing empathy for fans who had traveled and spent savings to reach the concerts. Instead, Taylor Nation’s first post after the cancellation was to promote a new variant of her latest album, and a recent post showcases new merchandise from the tour.
In the mindfulness world, we focus on the impact of our words. And actions. The Buddha implored his followers to use “Right Speech,” meaning language that is honest, clear, and does no harm, and also to think of your “Right Action” in each moment. As every entrepreneur and CEO knows, not speaking or acting is a choice too, perhaps especially for a songwriter as prolific as Swift, who penned an album called “Speak Now.”
Some fans defend Swift, claiming she needs time to process what happened, but in a much more traumatic situation, Ariana Grande acted quickly, tweeting within hours of her Manchester concert being bombed in 2017: “broken. from the bottom of my heart, i am so so sorry. i don’t have words” and returning to Manchester 13 days later to headline a benefit concert.
Today marks 13 days since the cancellation of Swift’s Vienna concerts, and she has still been silent.
When she eventually responds, I hope it is about fans’ experience of the cancellation, the once-in-a-lifetime trip many families had planned around the concerts. I hope she speaks mindfully, with awareness, kindness, and empathy.
She has built a brand around being relatable, but this past week many Vienna ticket-holders feel as if this only works in one direction — fans can relate to the superstar, but she can’t relate to them. To many, her silence stings like a callous, “So long, Vienna” and has them wondering, “how much sad did you think I had in me?”
Writes longtime fan Asad Ullah, who had to navigate a visa to travel to Vienna: “For someone who has always been so vocal, who has made us feel seen and understood through her music, the silence was deafening. It felt like a betrayal, like the very essence of what her music stands for — compassion, connection, empathy — was suddenly hollow. I couldn’t reconcile the person who had helped me heal with the one who couldn’t find the words to comfort her fans in a time of disappointment and hurt.”
