Death of Ana Clara Benevides
On 17 November 2023, Brazilian student Ana Clara Benevides Machado died from a cardiac arrest at a concert of the Eras Tour by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift at Estádio Olímpico Nilton Santos, Rio de Janeiro, amidst a heat wave and a venue ban on personal water bottles.[note 1] A criminal investigation was opened to determine an official cause of death and a consumer inquiry was launched on the event organizer T4F, a Brazilian entertainment company. Forensic analysis attributed cardiac arrest to heat exhaustion.
In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Benevides and the second or paternal family name is Machado.Date
17 November 2023
Ana Clara Benevides Machado (aged 23)
Rio de Janeiro recorded an abnormal heat index of 59.3°C (138.7°F), as part of a heat wave in Brazil, on the day of the concert, which was attended by over 60,000 people. T4F reportedly prohibited concertgoers from bringing their own food and water into the venue, citing "security concerns", which caused about one thousand dehydrated attendees to faint before and during the show. Swift observed some fainted audience members halfway through the show and ordered her team to dispense water bottles to them.
Benevides queued outside the stadium for around eight hours before stadium personnel allowed entry. She posted pictures and videos of herself to social media and described the drawn-out waiting experience as a "mess". Feeling unwell, she reported to paramedics and fainted shortly after the concert began. She was transported to Salgado Filho Hospital, where she arrived without a pulse; the hospital declared her dead after an hour of failed resuscitation attempts.
The death sparked widespread public condemnation of T4F for poor concert management. Many Swifties claimed that the water bottle ban, exacerbated by the heat wave and the stadium's closed vents, caused attendees to fall sick and led to Benevides' death. Swift publicly grieved for Benevides and postponed her 18 November concert to 20 November, citing "extreme temperatures". Politicians such as the federal minister of justice and public security, Flávio Dino, and the mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Eduardo Paes, announced that precautions would be implemented at future events, with free water stations amongst other obligations. Congresswoman Erika Hilton opined that T4F should be held accountable and voiced for a bill that criminalizes lack of free water at concerts. On 22 November 2023, the government of Brazil passed a federal ordinance mandating free and easily accessible water stations at events henceforth. Critics and journalists considered the death a consequence of climate inaction and urged for relevant governmental initiatives in Brazil. In March 2024, NBC News reported that around 100 municipal and state legislatures in Brazil have enshrined mandatory water access at large-scale events into law, attributing it to "the Taylor Swift effect".
Incident[edit]
The first Brazilian concert of the Eras Tour was held in Rio de Janeiro on 17 November 2023. Over 60,000 people attended the concert. T4F reportedly prohibited concertgoers from bringing their own food and water inside the venue, citing "security concerns". T4F sold 300 ml cups of drinking water inside the stadium; one fan said they "were expensive and hard to get a hold of";[12] as per The Washington Post, the water cups cost $2 each, but many attendees "found themselves stuck in crowds too dense for vendors to reach".[3] According to Variety, it was one of the hottest days recorded in Rio de Janeiro, with a heat index of 59.3 °C (138.74 °F),[13] exacerbated by humidity of 84% and a lack of a breeze. A number of fans became dehydrated and fainted before and during the show; video footage posted to social media showed queued fans with disposable coolers, fans, umbrella and bags of ice.[14][15][16] Time reported that thousands of fans, especially those with general admission tickets for the floor, waited for hours in the sun before being allowed inside the stadium around 7:30 p.m.[17]
Benevides and a friend arrived at the concert venue, Estádio Olímpico Nilton Santos, at approximately 11:00 a.m. BRT;[18] they were "early-entry" VIP ticket holders.[3] Benevides created a WhatsApp group to keep her family updated on the concert and would regularly share pictures and videos.[19] Benevides posted a video of herself on Instagram queueing to enter the stadium while seeking shade under an umbrella. Benevides told her followers, while fanning her face, that she arrived at 11 a.m. and that she was "still in the mess".[17] Another attendee compared the conditions inside of the stadium to a sauna: "It was extremely hot. My hair got so wet from sweat as soon as I came in. There was a point at which I had to check my breathing to make sure I wasn't going to pass out."[17] Others stated that the venue closed its vents, which used to be open, to prevent outsiders from viewing the concert and that the stadium's sod in the VIP section was covered with metal sheeting which had heated up in the sun and burned some attendees who attempted to sit on it.[20][12][3] Benevides drank plenty of water but saw several concertgoers looking "distressed" and others "yelling for water".[17] Benevides and her friend brought water with them, which they drank while they waited outside of the venue; once inside, they purchased room temperature water from T4F.[18]
Before the show began, Benevides reported to paramedics present at the stadium that she was feeling unwell.[13] She fainted at around 7:30 p.m., during Swift's performance of "Cruel Summer", the second song on the show's set-list.[13][17] According to T4F, paramedics attended to Benevides before she was rushed to a first aid centre, and then to Salgado Filho Hospital, where she died an hour later,[13] despite several resuscitation attempts.[21] Rio de Janeiro's health service agency reported that she arrived at the hospital without a pulse.[22] The state's public prosecutor opened a criminal investigation[23] and announced that Benevides' body was being examined to determine a cause of death.[24] Folha de S.Paulo reported cardiorespiratory arrest as the cause;[25] news about Benevides' death was first reported by Folha de S.Paulo, citing a confirmation from Benevides' cousin, Estela.[26] According to Buenos Aires Herald, Benevides died of "cardiac arrest due to dehydration".[21]
As the concert progressed, some fans attempted to indicate to Swift that they needed water and held signs.[27] Swift paused her performance during the Evermore act of the show, noting the fainted audience members, and asked "whoever in charge" to dispense water to them several times during the concert. The crowds chanted "water, water" repeatedly; when stadium staff did not respond, Swift's team began distributing water bottles to the crowd. While singing "All Too Well (10 Minute Version)", around the halfway mark of the show, Swift collected a water bottle from one side of the stage and gave it to a dehydrated fan on the other side.[14][15][16][26] According to firefighters' estimates, around one thousand people fainted during the event.[28][17] Swift was also seen struggling to breathe on-stage between performances; while Swift has performed the same set without problems for many months up to that point, due to the extreme temperatures in the stadium, it became increasingly difficult especially for Swift and her crew. [29]
Aftermath[edit]
A group of Swifties launched an online petition on Change.org on 18 November 2023, demanding for a "Benevides Law" to "make water in events mandatory". The petition gained more than 150,000 signatures in a few hours. They also urged T4F to lift the ban on bringing water bottles in light of the "unprecedented" heat wave.[17]
On 18 November, the original day of the second Rio de Janeiro show, T4F placed water stations within the venue grounds to cater to the concertgoers.[7] As temperatures on 18 November were reported to be worse than the previous day, Swift postponed the 18 November show, citing "extreme temperatures". She explained that "the safety and well-being of my fans, fellow performers, and crew has to and always will come first".[7] By Saturday morning, heat indexes at Jacarepaguá Airport were already 55 °C (131 °F).[38] The announcement was made less than two hours prior to the scheduled start of the show, which prompted negative reactions from ticketholders already in the venue.[39]
T4F confirmed 20 November as the new date.[27] It marked the second time a show on the Eras Tour has been postponed that month, after the second Buenos Aires show was delayed due to thunderstorms.[27] LATAM Airlines, Gol Linhas Aéreas, and Azul Brazilian Airlines offered ticketholders exemptions from rescheduling flight fees for the postponed Rio de Janeiro show.[40][41] During her second show in Rio de Janeiro, Swift performed "Bigger Than the Whole Sky", a ballad about grief and heartache, which many fans and media interpreted as a tribute to Benevides.[42]
During an interview for Fantástico, Benevides' mother stated that neither T4F nor the municipal and state governmental bodies of Rio de Janeiro contacted her or offer financial help in transporting the body from Rio de Janeiro to Sonora and the funeral.[43][3] She said that T4F only offered psychological assistance.[43] Fans organized online donations and crowdfunding efforts to cover the costs.[44] Some fans criticized Swift for not offering financial help to Benevides' family or acknowledging her by name during the second show.[43][3] On the night of the third show on 20 November, some fans planned to pay tribute to Benevides by conducting a moment of silence after the performance of "Champagne Problems", a performance which usually followed by several minutes of applause and screaming at previous shows on the tour.[45] Before the 20 November show, Benevides' family requested the initiative to be cancelled.[46] Benevides' body was returned to and buried in Sonora.[47] It was reported on 26 November 2023 that Swift and her team had contacted Benevides' parents a week ago, made donations to them, and invited them to meet Swift at a show in São Paulo.[3] Members of Benevides' family attended the show on 26 November and met with Swift backstage.[48]
An ordinance by the federal government of Brazil was published on 22 November 2023. It enshrined many new rules regarding event management, such as allowing attendees to enter with personal bottled water and easy access to free "hydration stations" inside venues.[3] Subsequently, as of March 2023, over 100 municipal and state legislatures in Brazil, third of which are from the state of Rio de Janeiro, drafted or passed bills to enshrine water access into law, many of which were named after Benevides. Niteroi, a city in Greater Rio de Janeiro area, became the first municipality to pass an ordinance guaranteeing water at large events.[49]
Investigation[edit]
An autopsy report of Benevides' body was published on 20 November, which found haemorrhages in her lungs; more tests were ordered to conclusively prove her cause of death.[50] A forensics report published on 27 December determined Benevides' cause of death to be cardiac arrest caused by heat exhaustion, and that she did not have preexisting conditions or substance abuse which could have led to her death.[51]
On 22 November, the Civil Police department of Rio de Janeiro stated an inquiry on T4F was initiated by its consumer delegations wing for "the crime of endangering the life and health" of concertgoers.[52] NBC News reported that T4F executives would testify, with authorities taking additional investigatory steps. Estadão added that the department would "investigate everything that fans reported, such as the structure of the place and the availability of water".[53] Brazil's National Consumer Secretariat also launched an investigation to determine "which party, or parties, needed to be fined for violating fans' rights as consumers", and based on the evidence so far presented, "the responsible party could face up to a US$2,600,000 fine", with T4F being the prime suspect, as per secretary Wadih Damous. The secretariat focused on how T4F's water distribution and use of metal-sheet flooring were potential factors that contributed to the increase in the stadium's heat index.[3]
Media reception[edit]
Benevides' death has been credited with increasing the public awareness of concert casualties. Commenting on T4F's claim that the water-bottle ban is a federally mandated rule, The Washington Post confirmed that the Ministry of Justice and Public Security "prohibits venue entry with items that can be thrown and injure a concertgoer, such as capped water bottles". Some Brazilian music festivals, including Rock in Rio, let attendees in the venue with "less hazardous capless water bottles".[3]
A number of publications analysed the incident and its causes, especially in relation with climate change. Bloomberg News argued that Benevides' death is a sign of the inadequacy of action on climate change. Paulo Artaxo, an atmospheric physicist and member of the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, said a number of countries, including Brazil, have not implemented strategies to minimize the impact of more extreme and frequent heatwaves caused by climate change on populations. Milad Haghani, a crowd safety expert at the University of New South Wales, said the lack of assigned seating incentivized conditions which led to overcrowding in the pitch, intensifying the effects of the extreme heat, which may have resulted in more casualties had Swift not taken "quick actions" calling for organizers to distribute water.[54]
In The Guardian, Anita Carvalho, director of the Music Rio Academy, said "I have no doubt that [the death] will be a watershed for the events industry". According to Nubia Armond, a geographer at Indiana University Bloomington, the heat is part of the Brazilian identity as a tropical country that "deals well with heat" but "there are very strong indications that this event was influenced by climate change", caused by a strong El Niño warming weather event. Armond hoped that the intensity of this heatwave "will wake up authorities and the general population to the silent danger of high temperatures and the urgency of the situation".[12] In The Washington Post, Kristie Ebi, a professor at the University of Washington's Center for Health and the Global Environment, stated that heat-related illnesses and deaths are preventable but a "coordination among community leaders, event organizers and emergency personnel" is needed to supervise attendees and their protection, highlighting how cities such as Miami, Phoenix and Los Angeles have hired "heat officers"—personnel who are dedicated to preparing for extreme heat events.[3] Bárbara Rodríguez, a specialist in green infrastructure at the University of Chile, told BBC News that authorities should rise to the challenges of climate change, such as adapting existing infrastructure to provide shaded zones and hydration points.[55]
In March 2024, NBC News considered the law bills passed by Brazilian legislatures in favor of mandatory water access as "a sign Brazilian authorities have begun considering it a public health issue in an ever-hotter world" and a phenomenon galvanized by "the Taylor Swift effect". According to Beray Armond, coordinator of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro's GeoClima laboratory, "beyond a shadow of a doubt, Benevides’ death was a turning point in the issue of water distribution for Rio's public administration."[49]