Taylor Swift Warns Fans Not To Bully Ex John Mayer During 'Dear John' Performance
By Kristin Myers on June 26, 2023 at 11:00 AM EDT
Singer Taylor Swift is warning her fans not to bully her ex-boyfriend, John Mayer, ahead of the release of Speak Now (Taylor's Version).
The two musicians dated briefly between 2009 to 2010, when he was 32 and she was only 19. Their relationship seems to have inspired the song "Dear John" from her third studio album, Speak Now, which was released in October 2010.
The song inspired the famous lyric:
"Dear John, I see it all now it was wrong / Don't you think nineteen is too young / To be played by your dark twisted games, when I loved you so? / I should've known."
After releasing Fearless (Taylor's Version) and Red (Taylor's Version) in 2021, Swift is now ready to release her next re-rerecorded album, Speak Now (Taylor's Version) next month.
However, she is already warning her fans, known as Swifties, not to bully her ex-boyfriend when "Dear John (Taylor's Version)" finally drops.
Taylor Swift Asks Fans Not To Bully John Mayer After 'Dear John (Taylor's Version)' Comes Out
On Saturday night, the "Lavender Haze" singer performed "Dear John" during the Minneapolis, Minnesota stop on The Eras Tour.
"I'm 33 years old. I don't care about anything that happened to me when I was 19," she told the crowd. "I'm not putting this album out so you can go on the internet and defend me against someone you think I wrote a song about someone 14 million years ago."
The news of Swift's announcement was first reported by TMZ.
John Mayer Speaks To A Swiftie Who Sent Him A DM Telling Him To 'Choke'
As The Blast previously reported, a Swiftie apologized to John Mayer after she started sending him death threats in November 2021.
“f--- yourself you ugly b---- i hope you choke on something <3,” a user named Alondra said in a DM they sent to the musician on Instagram, adding, "answer me you b----."
It's clear that she did not expect Mayer to respond; however, Mayer revealed that he had been getting "many messages" after Swift released Red (Taylor's Version).
“Hi Alondra, it’s John. I’ve been getting so many messages like these the past couple of days. I decided to choose your message at random to reply to. You can feel free to screen shot, share in any way you like if you want," he wrote. “I’m not upset, I just tend to have a curious mind and feel compelled to ask. Do you really hope that I die?”
The shocked Swiftie responded “OMG WHAT i don’t want you to DIE.” Screenshots of their conversation show that she left him a 30-second voice clip along with her apology.
“It’s okay. I wanted to understand,” he responded. “So it’s a fun thing people are doing without taking into account that I might see it and be affected by it?”
Alondra said that she thought no one would see the messages "or answer since you are famous and don’t interact with random people. again, very sorry !!”
Mayer assured her that it was "100 percent okay" and wished her well, but the Swiftie couldn't help but warn him about the reaction to "Dear John (Taylor's Version), responding, "people are probably going to be 1000x meaner when speak now taylor’s version is released so take care of yourself."
Jake Gyllenhaal Encourages Taylor Swift To Take Responsibility For Her Fans
In February 2022, "Donnie Darko" actor Jake Gyllenhaal encouraged Swift to take responsibility for the things said by her fans. The pair's brief relationship is said to have inspired the original and ten-minute version of "All Too Well," which was also turned into a short film.
At the time, the actor told Esquire, “At some point, I think it’s important when supporters get unruly that we feel a responsibility to have them be civil and not allow for cyberbullying in one’s name.”
He stressed that his comments were “not about any individual, per se,” but emphasized that it’s “a conversation that allows us to examine how we can — or should, even —take responsibility for what we put into the world, our contributions into the world.”
During the interview, the "Nightcrawler" actor insisted that Swift's songs have nothing to do with him.
“It has nothing to do with me,” he said. “It’s about her relationship with her fans. It is her expression. Artists tap into personal experiences for inspiration, and I don’t begrudge anyone that.”
Taylor Swift is currently single after ending her six-year relationship with actor Joe Alwyn. She was subsequently linked to the 1975 frontman Matty Healy in May 2023.
