A hysterical Swiftie has been ridiculed online after suffering a meltdown outside of Taylor Swift’s Eras tour in Sydney.
Madison Blackband, 20, was seated outside of Accor Stadium with two of her friends on Sunday night when she heard the singer perform the Folklore hit Exile as a surprise song on the setlist.
Immediately upon hearing the first few chords of the ballad, the Brisbane-based model exploded into tears and wailed at the top of her lungs before collapsing into her friend’s arms.
Her two pals appeared to be awkwardly stifling laughter for a few moments as they comforted the inconsolable blonde.
Taylor Swift superfan Madison Blackband (center) has been ridiculed online after suffering a meltdown outside of the singer’s Eras concert tour in Sydney
Blackband seated outside of Accor Stadium with two of her friends on Sunday night when she heard Swift perform Exile, which sent her into a storm of tears
Her two friends appeared to be awkwardly stifling laughter for a few moments as they comforted the inconsolable blonde
Swift wrapped up the Australian leg of her Eras tour on Monday after playing to more than 600,000 fans across Melbourne and Sydney
Blackband shared a video of the emotional incident to TikTok, captioning it, ‘My reaction to Taylor singing Exile (also known as the song that saved my life).’
The clip was then reposted on X, formerly Twitter, where it received a scathing reception.
‘The way that both of the friends are looking at each other like “do NOT laugh” is f***ing sending me,’ one posted.
‘You’ll never catch me FILMING this and posting it for the world to see,’ another added.
‘The mental illness isn’t the crying, which is fake, it’s the filming of the fake crying,’ someone else theorized. ‘The theatrics and narcissistic ownership of a song someone wrote without you in mind.’
Despite the backlash, a number of Swifties took to social media to defend Blackband’s emotional display.
‘Y’all are so mean holy s**t. Like, have some f***ing EMPATHY my god,’ one raged.
People on social media platforms like X, formerly Twitter, mocked Blackband’s meltdown
A handful of other users on X jumped to Blackband’s defense and called for empathy
‘Why are y’all so nasty about this in the comments. She clearly said the song helped her in the past,’ another wrote.
‘She’s overwhelmed. Could be sad, happy… not your place to deem someone’s emotions not okay, especially with [Taylor].’
Blackband herself also responded to the backlash in a post to X and admitted that she herself agreed with some of her critics, but urged them to be kinder in their approach.
‘I literally AGREE it’s funny, sooo dramatic and that I need to go to a psych ward like no s**t… no normal person reacts to something like that but like why be so GENUINELY mean?’ she posted.
In a statement to Daily Mail, Blackband explained her decision to film her dramatic reaction for social media.
‘The song has such a deep meaning to me and I appreciate the story that is told through it. Many fans had been recording their reactions to hearing the acoustic section of the show, so we thought we would do the same,’ she said.
‘Being outside, it was a little difficult for me to hear what song was being played during the second half of the acoustic set. I noticed that one of my friends started mouthing the words to “Exile” and I was suddenly flooded with emotions,’ she continued.
‘Initially, I was upset that I wasn’t inside of the stadium to see it… but being surrounded by my friends who knew how important “Exile” was to me, meant a lot. I’m glad they were there with me.’
Blackband then insisted that her two friends weren’t embarrassed by her despite cruel comments online claiming otherwise.
The Brisbane-based model is pictured posing for a photo with producer Finneas last year
Blackband address the backlash and called out online trolls for being unnecessarily ‘mean’
‘Contrary to what many of the comments on the video are saying, my friends were not judging me. They also feel very passionately about Taylor’s music,’ she said.
‘Although my reaction has been labelled as “over the top” and “dramatic”, it wasn’t planned and it wasn’t a fake reaction just for “views.” In fact, I’ve been laughing along with many of the memes created from the video and I’m not upset or embarrassed by the comments made.’
Swift wrapped up the Australian leg of her Eras tour on Monday after playing to more than 600,000 fans across Melbourne and Sydney.
The star’s loyal fans – known as Swifties – have earned a reputation for their emotional antics, which have included hysterical public breakdowns and uncontrollable weeping.
During an appearance at The Grove in Los Angeles last October to promote her Eras concert film, a handful of Swift’s fans were reduced to tears as soon as they saw the singer in the flesh.
The Cruel Summer songstress was seen making her way down a barricade filled to the brim with her supporters, taking time to chat with many of them, hugging them, and even snapping selfies with some.
Many of the fans became overwhelmed with emotion, bursting into tears or covering their mouth in awe as Taylor greeted them.
Others held their composure, only to erupt into sobs as soon as she walked away.
