Taylor Swift offered her ex-boyfriend John Mayer a little extra protection ahead of the release of her re-recorded album Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), which includes tracks that explore their relationship when she was just 19, and he was 32.
Swift told the crowd at her Minneapolis Eras Tour concert on Saturday during her performance of surprise song “Dear John” that she has moved past anything that happened to her as a teenager. She urged them to show kindness online.
“I get to stand on stage every night of this tour and watch the most beautiful things happen,” she started. “Like, I watch you guys make friends with each other. I watch you bond. I watch you give each other friendship bracelets. I see so many beautiful interactions happen, and I hear so many stories about friend who were made at these shows, and I watch it happen. And it’s the most unbelievable thing to watch. So I was hoping to ask you that as we lead up to this album coming out, I would love for that kindness and that gentleness to extend onto our internet activities. Right? So what I’m trying to say is, I’m putting this album out because I want to own my music, and I believe that anyone who has the desire to own their music should be able to. That’s why I’m putting all this out.
“I’m 33 years old. I don’t care about anything that happened to me when I was 19 except the songs I wrote and the memories we made together. So what I’m trying to tell you is that I’m not putting this album out so that you can go and should feel the need to defend me on the internet against someone you think I might have written a song about 14 million years ago. I do not care [about what happened to me then anymore].”
Following Swift’s speech, John Mayer trended on Twitter. Some Swifties joked that Swift’s remarks may be disregarded:
Still, it is the first time Swift has spoken out so pointedly in order to ask fans to not cyberbully an alleged song subject. Mayer first got renewed attention among the Swifties in October when Swift released Midnights. Fans believed her track “Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve” may have been about him.
Swift’s other ex-boyfriend Taylor Lautner went viral for joking he was praying for Mayer last month amid Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)‘s upcoming release date. He later admitted that “I don’t know if it was the wisest thing to say,” during an appearance on The Happy Hour on TODAY Show Radio, via People. “I was definitely joking, but clearly it’s taken off.”
Senior News and Strategy Editor
Alyssa Bailey is the senior news and strategy editor at ELLE.com, where she oversees coverage of celebrities and royals (particularly Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton). She previously held positions at InStyle and Cosmopolitan. When she’s not working, she loves running around Central Park, making people take #ootd pics of her, and exploring New York City.
