Taylor Swift Gives Statement on Death of Fan Before Her Brazil Concert: ‘I Feel This Loss Deeply’

On Friday night, a Taylor Swift fan named Ana Clara Benevides died just before the Eras Tour concert in Brazil, after losing consciousness at the Nilton Santos stadium in Rio de Janeiro. The 23-year-old’s cousin reportedly told Brazilian newspaper Folha that while attending the concert, Benevides went into cardiorespiratory arrest and fainted. She experienced a second arrest on the way to the hospital, where she later passed away.

In a statement on her Instagram Stories, Swift expressed her grief over the fan’s untimely death and shared she knew few details about the situation.

“I can’t believe I’m writing these words but it is with a shattered heart that I say we lost a fan earlier tonight before my show,” Swift wrote. “I can’t even tell you how devastated I am by this. There’s very little information I have other than the fact that she was so incredibly beautiful and far too young.”

“I’m not going to be able to speak about this from stage because I feel overwhelmed by grief when I even try to talk about it,” she went on. “I want to say now I feel this loss deeply and my broken heart goes out to her family and friends. This is the last thing I ever thought would happen when we decided to bring this tour to Brazil.”

Brazil was experiencing 100 degree weather on Friday night, and Swift was seen in videos urging stadium staff to hand out water to the audience and even threw a bottle from the stage.

The pop star had planned to tour in the country a few years ago, but had to cancel due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She is scheduled to perform two more shows in Rio de Janeiro, and will then head to to Sao Paulo.

Aimée Lutkin is the weekend editor at ELLE.com. Her writing has appeared in Jezebel, Glamour, Marie Claire and more. Her first book, The Lonely Hunter, will be released by Dial Press in February 2022.