The actor is breaking his silence about the song's re-release.
Jake Gyllenhaal is finally opening up about Taylor Swift's 2012 song, "All Too Well."
The 32-year-old singer, who dated Gyllenhaal for several months in 2010, brought their romance back into the spotlight last year with the re-release of Red (Taylor's Version), an album which features several songs widely thought to be about Gyllenhaal, including a 10-minute version of "All Too Well."
In a new profile for Esquire, the 41-year-old actor reacts to Swift's lyrics, saying specifically of "All Too Well" that "it has nothing to do with me."
"It’s about her relationship with her fans. It is her expression," he tells the magazine. "Artists tap into personal experiences for inspiration, and I don’t begrudge anyone that."
Without directly naming Swift, Gyllenhaal seems to imply that his ex had a duty to encourage her fans not to publicly attack him in response to her music.
"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 says. "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."
Gyllenhaal adds, "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.”
The actor tells Esquire that he has not listened to the new version of the album, and when asked what he's learned from the attention surrounding the song's release, he responds, “I’m not unaware that there’s interest in my life. My life is wonderful. I have a relationship that is truly wonderful, and I have a family I love so much. And this whole period of time has made me realize that.”
Gyllenhaal is currently dating model Jeanne Cadieu, and tells the magazine of their relationship, "In a lot of ways, we’re family. I’m in a relationship that is full of love and support. I feel so at ease."
As for Swift, she talked about the subjects of her songs coming back into the spotlight with the re-releases of her past work during an appearance on Late Night With Seth Meyers in November.
"I wonder if there are people who might think that they're the ones you were singing about if it's easier or far, far worse for them 10 years later," Meyers said.
Smiling, Swift replied, "I haven't thought about their experience, to be honest."
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