Taylor Swift meets with survivors of deadly Southport stabbing attack
Swift greeted the two young fans backstage at one of her recent shows in London.
By Jon Blistein
Taylor Swift met with two survivors of the deadly Southport stabbing attack backstage at one of her recent shows in London, Rolling Stone can confirm.
The two fans met with Swift and her mother, Andrea, and a TikTok user, Sami Foster, shared a few photos from the meet-and-greet on social media (the clip subsequently went viral). One of the young fans appeared to have a bandage around her arm, on which was written the ‘Cardigan’ lyric, “You drew stars around my scars.”
“The biggest thankyou to @Taylor Swift and her mum for making the most magical night possible for us all,” Foster wrote on TikTok.
The stabbing attack occurred late last month at a Swift-themed yoga and dance workshop for kids in Southport, England, who’d just begun their summer vacation. Three girls died in the attack, and several more children, plus some adults, suffered serious injuries. The three girls who died were identified as Bebe King, 6; Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7; and Alice Aguiar, 9.
Following the attack, a 17-year-old boy, identified as Axel Rudakubana, was arrested and charged with three counts of murder, as well as 10 counts of attempted murder and one count of possession of a weapon. The court identified Rudakubana after several false claims and rumors about the attacker’s identity had spread online, including that a Muslim immigrant had been arrested. The judge who made the decision to identify Rudakubana also cited the far-right rioting that occurred in Southport and other parts of the U.K. after the attack.
After the attack, Swift shared a statement online expressing her “horror” at the incident. “I’m just completely in shock,” she wrote. “The loss of life and innocence and the horrendous trauma inflicted on everyone who was there, the families, and first responders. These were just little kids at a dance class. I am at a complete loss for how to ever convey my sympathies to these families.”
Swift will wrap her final London run with two more shows tonight (August 20). She has one more round of North American Eras Tour dates scheduled for October and November.