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Late Taylor Swift fan Ana Clara Benevides Machado’s cause of death has been revealed one month after an investigation was launched by Brazilian police.
Machado died from “heat exhaustion,” according to a report from Rio’s Forensic Medical Institute obtained by the Associated Press on Wednesday, December 27. Per the report, Machado did not have “preexisting conditions or substance abuse” that could have been contributing factors, but “heat exposure led to a cardiorespiratory arrest.”
Machado died on November 17 at age 23 before one of Swift’s Eras Tour shows in Rio de Janeiro. Swift spoke out after learning of her fan’s passing.
“I can’t believe I’m writing these words but it is with a shattered heart that I say we lost a fan earlier tonight before my show,” Swift shared via Instagram Stories at the time. “I can’t even tell you how devastated I am by this. There’s very little information I have other than the fact that she was so incredibly beautiful and far too young.”
Swift went on to say that she was “overwhelmed by grief.” She seemingly honored Machado by performing “Bigger Than the Whole Sky” from her Midnights album as one of the concert’s surprise acoustic songs.
Ana Clara Benevides Machado Courtesy of Ana Benevides/Instagram
“I want to say now I feel this loss deeply and my broken heart goes out to her family and friends,” she added in her statement. “This is the last thing I ever thought would happen when we decided to bring this tour to Brazil.”
Concert organizer Time4Fun confirmed Machado’s death in a statement shared via X (formerly Twitter) on November 18, noting that she “felt unwell” before the show and was “promptly attended to” by paramedics. Machado’s father, Weiny Machado, later remembered his late daughter as “a happy and intelligent girl.”
“She was about to graduate in Psychology next April, saving money,” he told local newspaper Folha de São Paulo. “I have no words to express my pain. She left home to fulfill a dream and came back dead.”
Weeks after Ana Clara’s death, Swift met with the Machado family. Sources confirmed to Us Weekly that Swift had invited the family to the final show of her tour’s South American leg.
The Brazilian police launched an investigation into Time4Fun, NBC News reported late last month. A spokesperson shared that authorities are looking into “the crime of endangering the life and health” of those who attended the Eras Tour during an extreme heat wave.
“Event organizers will be called to testify, and other steps are underway to investigate the facts,” the spokesperson continued.
Time4Fun CEO Serafim Abreu issued an apology to Swift’s fans after the incident made headlines.
“We know the enormous responsibility we have to organize an event of this scale, which is why we did not economize in our efforts or resources to follow the best global practices in our industry to guarantee the comfort and safety of all,” he said, adding that “alternative steps” could have been taken to ensure the safety of concertgoers.
