Taylor Swift was seen breaking down in tears in newly released backstage footage from her Eras Tour, after meeting survivors and families of the victims of the Southport stabbing attack, which claimed the lives of three young girls in July 2024 during a Swift-themed dance workshop.
The emotional moment appears in The End of an Era, Swift’s new six-part Disney+ documentary series. The footage shows the singer crying in her dressing room as her mother, Andrea Swift, consoles her following a private meeting with those affected.
“I know it doesn’t seem like it, but I know you helped them,” Andrea tells her daughter, as Swift struggles to contain her emotions. Moments later, already in full costume, she went on to perform a three-and-a-half-hour show at London’s Wembley Stadium.
Swift: ‘I Needed to Create an Escape’
Speaking to media at the New York premiere of the series, including the BBC, Swift said she felt compelled to “create some form of escape” for fans after the incident.
“From a mental standpoint, I do live in a reality that’s unreal a lot of the time,” she said. “But I need to be able to handle all the feelings and then perk up and perform.”
The Wembley performance also marked her return to the stage after she cancelled three concerts in Vienna due to a terrorist threat. In the documentary, Swift reveals the tour had narrowly “dodged a massacre situation” after the CIA identified a bomb plot targeting one of her shows.
She added that after two decades of performing, “being afraid that something is going to happen to your fans is new.”
A Tour of Global Scale and Emotional Intensity
Swift’s Eras Tour lasted nearly two years, featuring 149 shows across five continents, drawing more than 10 million fans worldwide. The documentary highlights not only the scale of the production but also the emotional strain Swift carried while maintaining the show’s high energy.
After the Wembley performance, Swift is seen expressing relief to her fiancé, Travis Kelce, saying: “I was so happy — I thought I was going to forget how to play guitar and sing.”
Behind the Scenes of a Cultural Phenomenon
The End of an Era offers extensive behind-the-scenes footage, showing the intense rehearsals, planning, and creative ambition behind the record-breaking tour. It also captures the tight-knit community formed among dancers, crew members, and Swift herself.
The series explores themes of joy, pressure, vulnerability, and creative transformation — echoing Swift’s own statement that the tour felt like “a lifetime within my life.”
The documentary premieres on Disney+ this weekend, accompanied by a concert film shot on the final night of the tour.