Taylor Swift: Woman with stoma criticises Wembley Stadium – BBC News

An influencer with a chronic illness who uses a stoma bag said she felt she could not “drink or move” during a Taylor Swift concert after members of the crowd criticised and “shoved” her for doing so while she was there.

Holly Fleet, 30, known online as StomaBabe, said in a post on X she was “treated with contempt” whenever she went back to her spot in the crowd at the London show despite explaining she had a medical condition, and was “continuously shoved” by a parent for refusing to remove a backpack containing medical supplies.

She also said Wembley Stadium failed to provide advice to her before the event about bringing in medical supplies and drinks, and did not have enough accessible toilets available during the concert.

A stadium spokesperson said they were sorry to hear about Ms Fleet’s experience, adding Wembley was “committed to providing an inclusive experience for all disabled guests”.

Ms Fleet, from north London, said she bought a VIP standing ticket for the 22 June gig because she did not think a disabled seated ticket would be available due to how popular Taylor Swift is.

She told BBC London she needed to empty her stoma bag regularly, and to drink often because the operation she had had meant she was susceptible to dehydration.

She said at previous gigs it had not been so hard “to get in and out” and she “didn’t think people would take too much offence to it” – especially given that Swift’s set would be several hours long.

However, Ms Fleet said when she went to get drinks and brought them back “I must have had about four different people have a go at me about that”.

She also said she was shoved repeatedly by two women in front of their children because she had a backpack on containing her medical supplies.

“I had my backpack on. One of them taps me on the back and was like, ‘can you take that off please?’ and I said: ‘No, it’s got medical supplies in so I can’t take it off’… The next thing you know, she was just shoving me… really pushing me. And these were two mums who were both with their teen daughters.”

Ms Fleet claimed when she turned around to ask what the problem was, the woman laughed at her and then carried on shoving her, making her feel “really upset”.

“I had to move behind them because I couldn’t put up with being shoved like that,” she said.

“I felt like from every angle – I can’t have a drink, I can’t have my backpack on, I can’t go to the toilets. Everything felt so awful,” she said.

“I felt like I couldn’t drink, I couldn’t move.”

Ms Fleet, who also has ADHD, said she eventually “felt so overwhelmed by the whole thing that I literally ended up just phasing out”.

She said although she kept a hidden disabilities sunflower lanyard on as she was going to and from the toilet, a woman had an issue with her returning to her position with her friend, telling Ms Fleet “we’ve been here for hours” and accusing her of being “disgraceful”.

“I did get a bit depressed when I got home, I did cry and stuff because I thought, ‘is this how it’s always gonna be for me now, am I always gonna experience this?’ I might not be able to go to concerts again now.”