Taylor Swift is currently on a 146 show world tour spanning across multiple continents which will run for 8 months. The Eras Tour is one of the biggest entertainment spectacles of our generation from one of the highest-grossing artists in the world and yet, it would appear the ball has been dropped.
The 33-year-old singer is copping a heavy amount of flack after a disabled fan claimed she was told by tour promoters she wouldn’t be able to access the front row because she is in a wheelchair.
Silvia Stoyanova, 35, took to TikTok to send a message to tour promoters after she was informed that the premium ticket she purchased for approx AUD$500 (€300) couldn’t accommodate a wheelchair. Instead, she was invited to purchase a ticket in the wheelchair section located further away from the stage at Milan’s San Siro stadium.
Stoyanova has used this unfortunate incident as an opportunity to call for change in order to make events more inclusive for disabled fans.
“Stop seeing us [disabled people] as second-class citizens,” she said in her video posted to TikTok.
“You need to understand that you are leaving at home sick people who don’t have the luxury of waiting another 13 years for Taylor Swift to return to Italy.”
While local Italian promoters Mimmo D’Alessandro and Adolfo Galli have yet to respond to these claims, Stoyanova has forged ahead with advocating for more ramps to be built at the stadium. She has galvanised an army of supporters with a petition on Change.org with signatures growing by the day.
Although not directly Taylor Swift’s fault, there is a level of culpability here given the magnitude of her tour. In 2023 it simply isn’t good enough to not cover all your bases when it comes to putting on a world tour of this scale. Organisers should be working closely with local promoters to ensure each and every venue is safe and accessible for all fans to attend.
People connect with music because it feels inclusive and that should be extended into the spaces where all fans can enjoy entertainment from their favourite artists. We hope this is a huge learning moment for Taylor Swift and her team and they do their best to make sure this doesn’t happen again.
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