Taylor Swift urges fans to leave John Mayer alone as she prepares to re-release track

‘I don’t care about anything that happened to me when I was 19’, the singer insisted
Taylor Swift urges fans to leave John Mayer alone ahead of album release
PA Archive
Lisa McLoughlin 26 June 2023
The Weekender

Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and theatre ticket deals

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Taylor Swift has urged fans to show “kindness and gentleness” across the internet ahead of the release of Speak Now (Taylor’s Version).

The Grammy-winning singer made the comments during The Eras Tour in Minneapolis before singing her surprise song of the night Dear John, a song from her 2010 album which fans believe is about her relationship with John Mayer.

Over the weekend, Swift, who is currently re-recording her music after her masters were sold to Scooter Braun in 2019, said: “​​What I’m trying to say is I’m putting this album out because I want to own my own music.

“I’m not putting this album out so that you can defend me on the internet against someone you think I might have written a song about 14 million years ago.”

Although she didn’t mention Mayer by name, the Trouble hitmaker hinted at the relationship as she concluded her sentiments: “I’m 33 years old. I don’t care about anything that happened to me when I was 19.

“I do not care. We have all grown up. We’re good.”

The former couple were believed to have started dating back in late 2009, when Swift was 19 and Mayer was 32.

However, it was reported that they parted ways in mid-2010, several months before Dear John was released in October of that same year.

In 2012, Mayer addressed reports that the song was about him, admitting he felt “humiliated” and “terrible”.

Speaking to Rolling Stone at the time, the American singer likened the track to “like the last email you would ever send to someone you used to be in a relationship with”.

Fans have long believed that Mayer’s 2013 song Paper Dolls was written in response to Swift’s 2010 hit.

Swift’s words comes after her fans previously targeted Jake Gyllenhaal when she released Red (Taylor’s Version).

It is believed that All Too Well (10 minute version) is about the Donnie Darko actor. The commentary got so bad, he was forced to turn off his Instagram comments as a result.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in