Taylor Swift has urged her fans to “be kind” to her ex John Mayer.
The singer performed at Minneapolis US Bank Stadium on Saturday night, as part of her Eras Tour.
The 33-year-old told concertgoers that she has been moved by the displays of friendship and love she’s witnessed on tour, and asked that the “kindness and that gentleness” also extend to the internet.
Moments before she performed her 2010 song Dear John, which is believed to be about her split from John, Taylor said: “I’m 33 years old, I don’t care about anything that happened to me when I was 19 except the songs I wrote.”
“So what I’m trying to tell you is that I’m not putting this album out so that you could go and should feel the need to defend me on the internet against someone you think I might have written the song about 14 billion years ago.”
Taylor and John dated from December 2009 until February 2010, when she was 19 and he was 32.
The lyrics of Dear John include: “Dear John, I see it all now that you’re gone/ Don’t you think I was too young to be messed with?”
After Dear John was released, John hit out at Taylor in an interview with Rolling Stone.
Speaking about the song, he said: “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? I will say as a songwriter that I think it’s kind of cheap songwriting.”
“I know she’s the biggest thing in the world, and I’m not trying to sink anybody’s ship, but I think it’s abusing your talent to rub your hands together and go, ‘Wait till he gets a load of this!’ That’s bulls**t.”
Taylor is set to bring her Eras tour to Dublin’s Aviva Stadium on June 28 and 29, 2024.
Tickets for all UK & Europe dates will be available on a first-come, first-served basis, while ticket inventory lasts.
