Popular singer Taylor Swift has canceled her scheduled performance at this year’s Melbourne Cup. Meanwhile, the racing organizers are blaming scheduling issues as the reason.
The chief executive of the Victoria Racing Club, Neil Wilson, released a statement on Saturday. He said that Swift was “now unable to make the trip to Australia”.
The news comes days after the announcement of the performance earlier this month. The “Bad Blood” singer’s Melbourne Cup performance was initially billed as her only performance in Australia this year.
WHAT HAPPENED?
However, the booking received strong criticism from animal rights groups. They called out Swift to boycott the racing event at which six horses have died since 2013. Last year, The Cliffsofmoher broke down on the track after fracturing his shoulder.
Subsequently, a social media campaign by The Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses had asked Swift to say #NupToTheCup.
After the reports of Swift performing surfaced on the media, the group posted, “Taylor Swift has put money before compassion by agreeing to perform at the 2019 Melbourne Cup.”
Furthermore, they said that horses were being killed for gambling profits and entertainment. They added that if Taylor Swift cares about other animals, “she will cancel her show and make a strong statement that animal abuse is unacceptable.”
The music booking agency Mushroom Events declared on Saturday that the change was due to scheduling issues with Swift’s world tour.
Moreover, spokesman Michael Gudinski said in a statement that “Regrettably, Taylor is no longer able to make it to this year’s Melbourne Cup.” He added that changes in her Asian promo schedule have made it difficult “for her to be here.”
Wilson said that the news was “disappointing for everyone”.
Initially, Swift was slated to perform two tracks from her new album, Lover. The album is Australia’s highest-selling album of the year so far.