Last November, the internet came for Jake Gyllenhaal when Taylor Swift released an updated 10-minute version of her song “All Too Well” that detailed a turbulent romance. Now, the actor is finally speaking out about his feelings on the track, and, luckily, it appears he has no bad feelings towards his ex.
In a new feature for Esquire, Gyllenhaal opened up about the song and Swift. “It has nothing to do with me. It’s about her relationship with her fans,” he said. “It is her expression. Artists tap into personal experiences for inspiration, and I don’t begrudge anyone that.”
Related: Which song are you from Taylor Swift’s ‘Red’ album based on your zodiac sign.
The track was part of the re-release for the Grammy-winner’s album Red, and was even accompanied by a short film in which actress Sadie Sink portrayed a character rumoured to based on Swift, and Dylan O’Brien starred as a character rumoured to be inspired by Gyllenhaal. Although the song doesn’t name Gyllenhaal, for years fans have speculated that it’s about him — he dated Swift in 2010 and the original version of the song came out in 2012.
When the updated version of “All Too Well” came out, Swifties didn’t hold back and shared their feelings on the soured romance, creating memes and jokes about Gyllenhaal:
Taylor after absolutely tearing apart Jake Gyllenhaal for 10 minutes #RedTaylorsVersion pic.twitter.com/bJsZJmJBHf
— phoebe (@pheebsrowen) November 12, 2021
Even Grammy-winner Dionne Warwick weighed in with a reference to the song’s lyrics “And I, left my scarf there at your sister’s house/And you’ve still got it in your drawer even now,” with a tweet:
If that young man has Taylor’s scarf he should return it.
— Dionne Warwick (@dionnewarwick) November 15, 2021
See also: She’s got ‘Style’: Taylor Swift’s style evolution.
It appears Gyllenhaal doesn’t hold any ill-will towards Swift for bringing their relationship into the spotlight, even though Swifties dragged him amid the song’s re-release, forcing him to turn off his comments on social media.
“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 explained. “That begs for a deeper philosophical question. Not about any individual, per se, but 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.”
Although fans remember their relationship all too well, the exes have gone their separate ways. Gyllenhaal has moved on and is currently dating model Jeanne Cadieu, and Swift is reportedly engaged to actor Joe Alwyn.
See also: Sign up for the Slice newsletter.
