Jake Gyllenhaal’s veiled swipe at Taylor Swift’s re-released song about him

Jake Gyllenhaal has finally appeared to address Taylor Swift’s re-released song about him, saying artists must take responsibility for their “unruly” fans.

Jake Gyllenhaal has appeared to finally respond to ex-girlfriend Taylor Swift’s re-released song about him.

The US actor, 41, said artists should take “responsibility” for their fans’ “cyber-bullying” after he was the subject of online ridicule following the re-release of Swift’s lovelorn ballad, All Too Well(Taylor’s Version).

The new 10-minute version of the song, widely reported to be about Swift’s brief romance with Gyllenhaal in 2010, paints a blistering picture about their break-up, with some lyrics including: You call me up again just to break me like a promise / So casually cruel in the name of being honest / I’m a crumpled up piece of paper lying here, because I remember it all too well

Gyllenhaal said: “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 cyber-bullying in one’s name,” the Nightcrawler star told Esquire in a new profile published Friday.

Taylor Swift re-released a 10 minute version of All Too Well in November. Picture: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images/AFP

The song has long been rumoured to be about Jake Gyllenhaal, who became the subject of ridicule upon its re-release. Picture: Robyn Beck / AFP

Gyllenhaal didn’t mention Swift, 32, directly, stating his comments were “not about any individual, per se,” but added 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.”

“We see that in politics. There’s anger and divisiveness, and it’s literally life-threatening in the extreme,” he said.

“My question is: Is this our future? Is anger and divisiveness our future? Or can we be empowered and empower others while simultaneously putting empathy and civility into the dominant conversation? That’s the discussion we should be having.”

Although Gyllenhaal was hesitant to call out Swift, the interviewer had questioned the Oscar winner about how the negative media attention affected him after the re-release of the chart-topping song late last year.

“It has nothing to do with me. It’s about her relationship with her fans,” Gyllenhaal insisted of the song, which originally dropped in 2012 after his break-up from Swift.

Gyllenhaal said the song was about “(Taylor’s) relationship with her fans”. Picture: Kevin Kane/Getty Images for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

“It is her expression. Artists tap into personal experiences for inspiration, and I don’t begrudge that.”

Gyllenhaal claimed he has not listened to the newly released version of the song, adding, “I’m not unaware that there’s interest in my life.”

The actor, who has been dating 26-year-old model Jeanne Cadieu since late 2018, said his “life is wonderful.”

“I have a relationship that is truly wonderful, and I have a family I love so much,” he concluded. “And this whole period of time has made me realise that.”

This story originally appeared on New York Post and was reproduced with permission