She thinks there’s been a glitch. Taylor Swift is speaking out after Ticketmaster bungled the presale for her upcoming Eras tour.
“Well. It goes without saying that I’m extremely protective of my fans. We’ve been doing this for decades together and over the years, I’ve brought so many elements of my career in house. I’ve done this SPECIFICALLY to improve the quality of my fans’ experience by doing it myself with my team who care as much about my fans as I do,” she wrote in a lengthy statement shared via her Instagram Story on Friday, November 18. “It’s really difficult for me to trust an outside entity with these relationships and loyalties, and excruciating for me to just watch mistakes happen with no recourse.”
The Grammy winner continued: “There are a multitude of reasons why people had such a hard time trying to get tickets and I’m trying to figure out how this situation can be improved moving forward.”
Swift asserted that she was “not going to make excuses for anyone” involved in the Ticketmaster sale, which kicked off on Tuesday, November 15, for verified fans. “We asked them, multiple times, if they could handle this kind of demand and we were assured they could,” she claimed. “It’s truly amazing that 2.4 million people got tickets, but it really pisses me off that a lot of them feel like they went through several bear attacks to get them.”
The “Ivy” singer concluded: “And to those who didn’t get tickets, all I can say is that my hope is to provide more opportunities for us to all get together and sing these songs. Thank you for wanting to be there. You have no idea how much that means.”
One day before Swift broke her silence, Ticketmaster announced via Twitter that the general sale for the upcoming U.S. tour was canceled “due to extraordinarily high demands on ticketing systems and insufficient remaining ticket inventory to meet that demand.”
Earlier this month, the Cats actress revealed she’s performing live in stadiums across the country for the first time in four years. The Eras tour will be “a journey through the musical eras of my career (past and present!),” Swift wrote via Instagram on November 1, unveiling a star-studded list of opening acts — from Phoebe Bridgers to HAIM.
Fans were able to register for the specific shows they wanted tickets for, and a lucky few were given individual codes to access the presale. When Ticketmaster opened its queue on Tuesday, the site quickly crashed — and some hopeful customers were stuck waiting for hours before being able to select their seats. Many others left the sale empty-handed.
As backlash erupted online, Ticketmaster addressed the debacle. “The Eras on sale made one thing clear: Taylor Swift is an unstoppable force and continues to set records,” read a statement from the company. “We strive to make ticket buying as easy as possible for fans, but that hasn’t been the case for many people trying to buy tickets for the Eras Tour. … While it’s impossible for everyone to get tickets to these shows, we know we can do more to improve the experience and that’s what we’re focused on.”
According to the brand, more than 3.5 million fans registered for the presale and 1.5 million were sent access codes. Tuesday’s sale broke site records, with 2 million tickets being purchased — the most sold by any artist in a single day.
Everyday Swifties weren’t the only ones who struggled to buy tickets — celebrities also expressed their frustrations. “YO! @TMFanSupport, my code ISN’T working! It says it’s invalid. WTH,” Busy Philipps tweeted on Tuesday. “I have ONE JOB AS A MOM — to get these tickets — and you have ONE JOB as Ticketmaster! To give people working codes!!!!”
