On Friday, November 17, Taylor Swift performed her first of three The Eras Tour dates in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. Ana Clara Benevides Machado, 23, was among the thousands of Swifties in attendance, and she tragically died. An official cause of death was not publicly confirmed. However, it was noted by fans in attendance that temperatures were dangerously high — causing Swift to postpone her November 18 concert — during an unprecedented heat wave in the city, and access to water was limited. Now, according to NBC News, event organizer T4F (Time For Fun) is under investigation.
“A spokesperson for the Civil Police Department of Rio De Janeiro said its consumer delegations department had launched an inquiry into ‘the crime of endangering the life and health’ of concertgoers,” NBC News relayed, along with a statement from Rio De Janeiro officials: “Event organizers will be called to testify, and other steps are underway to investigate the facts.”
On November 18, Time For Fun confirmed Benevides’ death in a statement describing that she had “felt unwell and was promptly attended to” at the on-site Estadio Nilton Santos medical center before being transported to a local hospital, where she was pronounced dead after “almost an hour of medical care” (as translated from Portuguese to English).
Swift also acknowledged the unspeakable development with a heartfelt statement posted to her since-expired Instagram Story. She wrote, in part, “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.” Swift then appeared to tribute Benevides with an emotional performance of “Bigger Than The Whole Sky” on Sunday night, November 19.
On Thursday, November 23, Time For Fun CEO Serafim Abreu spoke to the tragedy in a video posted to Instagram. NBC News translated a portion of his statement, noting that he apologized “to all who did not have the best possible experience” and admitted Time For Fun could have taken “alternative steps” in its approach to putting on The Eras Tour in Rio.
Swift’s final 2023 The Eras Tour shows are scheduled for tonight (November 24), Saturday night (November 25), and Sunday night (November 26) at Allianz Parque in São Paulo, Brazil. The unprecedented stadium tour will resume on February 7, 2024 in Tokyo, Japan.
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