Ana Clara Benevides Machado

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.

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.

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 laws and initiatives in Brazil.

Taylor Swift announced the Latin American leg of her sixth headlining concert tour, the Eras Tour, on 2 June 2023, with Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo amongst its stops in November 2023, marking Swift's return to Brazil after an eleven-year gap.

More shows were added in both cities following high demand.

Brazilian entertainment company T4F – Time For Fun served as the official event organizer for the tour's Brazilian leg, responsible for the ticket sales and stadium management in the country.

A well-known entertainment company in Latin America, T4F was once considered one of the top tour promoters by American music industry magazine Billboard.

T4F mainly offers services for event promotion, operations of box office and venue, and food, beverage and merchandise sales amongst others, according to its official website.

Unrest was reported on 11 June 2023, outside the Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo venues' box offices as scalpers attempted to bypass the queued fans, including some armed scalpers who threatened violence; police arrived at the scene to maintain order.

T4F was reported over 100 times to authorities for their inaction.

On 20 June, congress members of Brazil filed the "Taylor Swift Law", which penalized scalpers with up to four years in prison and a fine of up to 100 times the value of the ticket.

According to a report by The Washington Post, "Swift's team didn't directly hire the company" for the Brazilian leg.

From 14 November 2023, Brazil began experiencing a heat wave, with red alerts issued to around 3,000 towns and cities across the country.

According to The Independent, "over a hundred million people have reportedly been impacted by the extreme weather".

Ana Clara Benevides Machado was born on 22 July 2000, in Sonora, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil.

She had been living in Rondonópolis, Mato Grosso, where she studied psychology at the and was scheduled to graduate in April 2024.

Benevides was described by her friends as a person who "loved" Swift and was fulfilling a "dream" by traveling across the country on her first airplane flight to watch Swift perform live.

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"; 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".

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), 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.

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.

Benevides and a friend arrived at the concert venue, Estádio Olímpico Nilton Santos, at approximately 11:00 a.m. BRT; they were "early-entry" VIP ticket holders.

Benevides created a WhatsApp group to keep her family updated on the concert and would regularly share pictures and videos.