Taylor Swift asks fans not to ‘defend’ her against exes ahead of the ‘Speak Now’ re-recording

Swift reminded fans that the “Taylor’s Version” albums were about owning her own art, not rehashing relationships from “14 million years ago.”

Taylor Swift performs in Las Vegas on March 24.Casey Flanigan / imageSPACE/Sipa USA via AP file

Taylor Swift urged fans to exercise kindness on the internet to the men they speculate her songs are written about ahead of the release of “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)” next month

So what I’m saying is I’m putting this album out because I want to own my music. … 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 14 million years ago,” Swift said, according to multiple videos posted online.

Swift also said she does not care “about anything that happened when I was 19 except the songs I wrote and the memories we made together.”

She then played her song “Dear John,” which fans have long speculated was written about a romance with singer John Mayer.

“Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)” is the third album Swift has re-recorded since her former record label sold her master recordings to Scooter Braun in 2019; they were sold again to the investment firm Shamrock Capital.

When “Red (Taylor’s Version)” was released in 2021, fans directed jokes and memes at Jake Gyllenhaal, who they believe was the inspiration behind her song “All Too Well.” Swift has never confirmed whom she writes about in her songs, some of which she said are slightly autobiographical, while others are fictional.

Gyllenhaal told Esquire in an interview that he thought the song’s re-release, which included a 10-minute-long version, was more about Swift’s relationships with her fans than with him.

“It is her expression,” he told the magazine last year. “Artists tap into personal experiences for inspiration, and I don’t begrudge anyone that.”

Many have joked about the onslaught of attention that is likely to shift from Gyllenhaal to John Mayer when “Dear John (Taylor’s Version)” is released.