Taylor Swift performs on May 19, 2023.Photo:Scott Eisen/TAS23/Getty
Scott Eisen/TAS23/Getty
Taylor Swiftis reminding her fans to practice “kindness” ahead of the release ofSpeak Now (Taylor’s Version).
On Saturday night at the Minneapolis stop of her Eras Tour, the singer, 33, let her fans know she’s not re-recording her albums to be defended “on the internet against someone you think I might have written a song about” just before she played “Dear John” live for the first time in over a decade.
TheSpeak Nowtrack, released as part of the LP in October 2010, is thought to have been written about fellow musicianJohn Mayer, which Swifthas never confirmed. The two were briefly linked in 2009.
“I was hoping to ask you, that as we lead up to this album, I would love for that kindness and that gentleness to extend onto our internet activities. Right?“Swift said, after pointing out how her fans hand out friendship bracelets during her tour. “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 [those] who have the desire to own their music should be able to. That’s why I’m putting out this album.”
“I’m 33 years old, I don’t care about anything that happened to me when I was 19 except the songs I wrote,” Swift continued. “So what I’m trying to tell you, is that I am not putting this album out so you should feel the need to defend me on the internet against someone you think I wrote a song about 14 million years ago.”
Taylor Swift performs on May 20, 2023.TAS Rights Management/Getty
TAS Rights Management/Getty
Swift announced in May, while on stage in Nashville, thatSpeak Now (Taylor’s Version)will be released on July 7, with six previously unreleased songs from the vault.
As fans prepare for the release, the singer-songwriter’s exTaylor Lautnerjoked thathe was looking outfor fellow possibleSpeak Nowmuse Mayer, 45.
“I think it’s a great album,” Lautner said. “Yeah, I feel safe. Praying for John.”
The star — who also jokingly “prayed” for the “Who Says” singer in aTikTok video— laterclarified his joke.
“I don’t know if it was the wisest thing to say,” Lautnersaid in a chatwithThe Happy Houron TODAY Show Radio on SiriusXM. “I was definitely joking, but clearly it’s taken off.”
As Lautner later explained of his comment, his wife “knew immediately” that he may have slipped up. “She’s like, ‘That’s gonna trigger the Swifties, or I mean, they were supportive of it.’ I personally think John is a very talented musician, but I am aware of a couple songs that were on that album,” Lautner said.
Taylor Lautner; Taylor Swift; John Mayer.Dillon Sherlock/CBS/Getty; Kevin Mazur/WireImage; Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty
In a 2012Rolling Stoneinterview, Mayer spoke about the song and said that the lyrics made him “feel terrible.”
“Because I didn’t deserve it. I’m pretty good at taking accountability now, and I never did anything to deserve that. It was a really lousy thing for her to do,” he said at the time. “I never got an email. I never got a phone call. I was really caught off-guard, and it really humiliated me at a time when I’d already been dressed down. I mean, how would you feel if, at the lowest you’ve ever been, someone kicked you even lower?”
source: people.com
