Jake Gyllenhaal has broken his silence on speculation that he is the subject of Taylor Swift's painfully honest breakup song, "All Too Well."
It has long been believed that Swift wrote the song, which was originally released on her 2012 "Red" album, about the actor who she briefly dated in 2010. There has been renewed interest in their short-lived relationship following last year's release of the re-recorded, "Red (Taylor's Version)," which features a 10-minute incarnation of the song.
Since then Gyllenhaal has remained silent on the topic. He eventually turned off the comments section of his Instagram when the furor became too much, but other than that Gyllenhaal has said nothing on the matter — until now. Speaking with Esquire in a new interview, published Thursday, the "Zodiac" star said he did not "begrudge" 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."
When asked to address the reasons why he opted to turn off the comments section on his Instagram account, Gyllenhaal spoke in vague terms.
"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 said.
"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. How do we provoke a conversation? We see that in politics. There’s anger and divisiveness, and it’s literally life-threatening in the extreme."
Swift has never confirmed or denied that the song is about Gyllenhaal but there are several references in "All Too Well" that are up for debate, — the most obvious being their age gap.
Swift was 21 and Gyllenhaal was 30 when they dated. In her song, Swift sings "you said if we had been closer in age maybe it would have been fine." She also takes a shot at the age gap towards the end of the song when she sings "I'll get older, but your lovers stay my age."
Gyllenhaal did not comment further during the interview with Esquire, but he did say he was in a "truly wonderful" relationship with 25-year-old French model Jeanne Cadieu, who he has been dating since the latter half of 2018, according to the New York Daily News.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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