Taylor Swift Fans Furious After Fan Death at Brazil Concert

Fans are furious after 23-year-old Ana Clara Benevides died after attending Taylor Swift's concert in Brazil on Friday night.

Benevides fainted at the Estádio Olímpico Nilton Santos after temperatures in Rio de Janeiro soared, according to the Mirror and multiple other outlets. She is said to have then gone into cardiac arrest, though the cause of death has yet to be announced. Her family members have since spoken to the press, sharing their heartbreak and anger over her death.

Newsweek reached out to a Taylor Swift representative and tour organizer Time For Fun (T4F) for comment via email Monday.

Swift is currently on the South American leg of The Eras Tour and people online are taking aim at the Brazilian tour organizer, T4F, over reports that it banned concertgoers from taking water into the sweltering venue. They also allege Time For Fun isn't helping to get the fan's body home to the family in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul, which the family has said they are struggling to afford to do.

Benevides' cousin Estela Benevides told the Brazilian newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo that Benevides fainted while she was in the front row of the audience. The paper reported that she was "resuscitated at the stadium for about 40 minutes" before suffering a second cardiac arrest while on the way to a local hospital, where she died shortly after arriving.

The paper reported that the heat index at the stadium "reached 60C [degrees Celsius]"—140 degrees Fahrenheit—and firefighters "counted a thousand faintings during the event," with others having to be helped after vomiting. Videos circulating online have shown Swift also struggling with the heat and passing water to audience members while they begged for it.

Time For Fun said Benevides was promptly attended to by firefighters and paramedics after feeling unwell at the Eras Tour show in Rio and was taken to the medical center at the Nilton Santos Stadium for first aid. She was then transferred to Salgado Filho Hospital, where, after almost an hour of emergency care, she died. "To the family and friends of Ana Clara Benevides Machado, our sincere condolences," T4F said in a statement on Instagram.

In a later statement, T4F said it was "reinforcing the special action plan carried out for the first day of the show, especially the provision of free water in the queues and at all accesses and entrances to the stadium and inside."

"We also emphasize that the prohibition of bottles of water entering stadiums is a requirement made by public bodies and that we do not sell drinks and food, which is the responsibility of the stadium administration," it said, adding that it was also increasing medical support at the venue.

Swift, who postponed her Saturday night concert in Rio due to the heat wave, expressed her grief about Benevides' death online, sharing a handwritten note to her Instagram Story.

"I can't believe I'm writing these words but it is with a shattered heart that I say we lost a fan earlier tonight before my show. 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," she wrote.

"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. I want to say now I feel this loss deeply and my broken heart goes out to her family and friends," Swift continued. "This is the last thing I ever thought would happen when we decided to bring this tour to Brazil."

Benevides' cousin told the Brazilian newspaper that she and other family members are concerned that they "will not have the resources" to have Benevides' body brought back to them.

Benevides' father Weiny Machado, 53, also spoke to the paper, saying he wants the promoters to clarify whether concertgoers were prohibited from bringing water into the show Friday.

"I want it to be found out whether they were in fact prohibited from bringing water, whether there was negligence in providing assistance," he said, as quoted by the Mirror.

"I lost my only daughter, a happy and intelligent girl. She was about to graduate in psychology next April, saving money. I have no words to express my pain. She left home to fulfill a dream and came back dead."

Benevides' mother also appeared on national television in Brazil, sharing her heartbreak as well as the struggles the family is facing

"This is what hurts the most. She's been there since Friday and we only have a projection of her body arriving tomorrow at 5 p.m. The people from the concert who put it together aren't giving us the support to bring her home," she said.

"I know these things don't get through to the singers and the artists don't know about this but we wanted them to help us bring her home because we're having to pay for everything."

People have expressed their anger towards Time For Fun online, calling for the entertainment company to help the family recover Benevides' body.

"Hey @t4f maybe you should help get Ana Benavides HOME so she can be properly grieved by her family and other loved ones. My electronic candle has been alight since we all heard what happened! Justiça por Ana Benevides!!" one person wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

"Ana's family was on national television just now asking for help because her body is STILL in Rio and they're struggling to get her home because of the costs since it's really expensive. PLEASE HELP," wrote another.

"Bigger Than The Whole Sky" is trending on X, with fans saying Swift performed the song in tribute to Benevides at Sunday's concert, even though the singer didn't mention the 23-year-old by name.

The song contains the lyrics "Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, you were bigger than the whole sky" and "You were more than just a short time."

"I know Taylor said she wouldn't be able to speak about Benevides on stage as it is too painful for her but bigger than the whole sky was such a beautiful way to honor her, truly so special," a fan posted to the social media platform.

"Doing 'Bigger Than the Whole Sky' was more beautiful and meaningful than any speech she could've given, and it was clearly very difficult. I never thought she'd sing that one, I wish she never had to, but I'm glad it existed for a situation like this," said another.

Eduardo Paes, mayor of Rio de Janeiro, wrote on X that "the loss of a young woman's life ... is unacceptable." Paes said that he has "ordered the municipality's executive chief of operations to demand action with the production of the show," including adding new water distribution points and increasing the number of ambulances.

Swift rescheduled her Saturday night concert for Monday, November 20.