An American man, who made threats against Taylor Swift on social media, was detained ahead of her first show in Gelsenkirchen, Germany.
The suspected stalker, whose identity has not been released, was ‘taken into custody at the entry control point to the venue before the concert’ on Wednesday, according to USA Today, after ‘initial investigations could not rule out that he posed a threat.
According to police, the man made threats against both Swift, 34, and her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, who attended her first concert at Veltins Arena in Gelsenkirchen.
As a result, he will be kept in detention until Saturday.
AP reported that organizers of the event tipped off authorities of the alleged stalker’s concerning online behavior.
German law enforcement officers noted that at ‘no point’ were Swift or the venue’s 60,000 attendees in danger.
In addition to Wednesday’s show, Swift will be performing in Gelsenkirchen on July 18 and 19.
The pop star will remain in Germany until July 28 for two more shows in Hamburg and another two in Munich.
In August, she will conclude the European leg of the Eras Tour by performing for five nights in London.
She will take a month-long break before performing in Florida and Louisiana.
The 14-time Grammy winner will proceed to end her U.S. run in November 2024 with a three-night stop at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Over the years, Swift has endured a number of dangerous run-ins with obsessive fans and been the victim of many stalking incidents.
In 2019, she revealed how being stalked and harassed has affected her daily life and mental health during an essay for Elle.
‘You get enough stalkers trying to break into your house and you kind of start prepping for bad things,’ she wrote. ‘Every day I try to remind myself of the good in the world, the love I’ve witnessed, and the faith I have in humanity.’
She continued: ‘We have to live bravely in order to truly feel alive, and that means not being ruled by our greatest fears.’
For her own safety, the Cardigan hitmaker revealed she carries QuikClot, an army grade bandage dressing, ‘which is for gunshot or stab wounds.’
Ahead of her Reputation Stadium Tour, she admitted to feeling ‘completely terrified to go on tour’ because she didn’t know how to ‘keep 3 million fans safe over seven months’ following the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing at an Ariana Grande concert.
‘There was a tremendous amount of planning, expense, and effort put into keeping my fans safe,’ she explained.
Swift has also said that she tries never to say or post from her current location since all of her ‘addresses are on the internet’ and she’s had to deal with a lot of men that have ‘imaginary’ and one-sided relationships with her.
‘I’ve had a lot of stalkers show up to the house armed. So we have to think that way,’ she explained on CBS Sunday Morning in 2019.
