John Mayer called for kindness in a message that was shared in an Instagram photo series on Thursday shortly before ex Taylor Swift re-released her 2010 Speak Now album.
The Bad Blood songstress, 33, shared a similar message when she asked fans during an Eras Tour concert last month to not ‘defend’ her against the Gravity hitmaker, 45, explaining that was not the intention of the re-recording, which dropped on July 7.
In a carousel of snaps that had been taken while Mayer performed during a show in Boulder, Colorado with Dead and Company amidst their Summer 2023 Farewell Tour, he included one image that seemingly was in reference to Speak Now (Taylor’s Version).
The picture showed colorful drones filling up the night sky above the open-air stadium that spelled out the phrase, ‘Please be kind.’
He additionally uploaded a variety of other photos from the concert, and although John asked for kindness, some social media users ignored the request in the comment section.
Asking for kindness: John Mayer, 45, called for kindness in a message that was shared in an Instagram photo series on Thursday shortly before ex Taylor Swift, 33, re-released her 2010 Speak Now album
A message: The picture showed colorful drones filling up the night sky above the open-air stadium that spelled out the phrase, ‘Please be kind’
One follower typed out, ‘Today isn’t the best day for you is it x,’ while another penned, ‘Go stream speak now (taylor’s version) by @taylorswift (she was 19).’
John and Taylor notably collaborated on the 2009 track titled, Half Of My Heart, and later that same year in December, were reportedly romantically linked. At the time, the Your Body Is A Wonderland singer was 32, and Swift was 19.
However, only a few months later in February 2010, the two singers went their separate ways. In October 2010, Taylor released Speak Now, which included a song called, Dear John, which fans speculated to be about her split from Mayer.
Some lyrics further backed up the rumors, such as: ‘Dear John, I see it all now that you’re gone/Don’t you think I was too young to be messed with?/The girl in the dress, cried the whole way home’ and ‘Don’t you think nineteen’s too young/To be played by your dark, twisted games when I loved you so?/I should’ve known.’
Dear John also appears on the re-released Speak Now album that became available on Friday. Mayer later dropped a single called, Paper Doll, in 2013, which has been speculated to be a rebuttal to Taylor’s Dear John song.
Lyrics such as, ‘You’re like twenty-two girls in one/And none of them know what they’re runnin’ from,’ is speculated to be a reference to her Red album that contains the track, 22.
‘Someone’s gonna paint you another sky,’ has been said to be a possible reference to Taylor’s Dear John lyrcis, ‘You paint me a blue sky/And go back and turn it to rain.’
During a past interview with Rolling Stone in 2012, Mayer also commented on the Dear John track, and revealed that the lyrcis had made him ‘feel terrible’ and ‘humiliated.’
Past relationship: John and Taylor notably collaborated on the 2009 track titled, Half Of My Heart, and later that same year, were romantically linked when he was 32 and she was 19; seen in June in Ohio
Reaction: He additionally uploaded a variety of other photos from the concert, and although John asked for kindness, some social media users ignored the request in the comment section
Not the ‘best day’: One follower typed out, ‘Today isn’t the best day for out is it x,’ while another penned, ‘Go stream speak now (taylor’s version) by @taylorswift (she was 19)’
Speak Now track: In October 2010, Taylor released Speak Now, which included a song called, Dear John, which fans speculated to be about her split from Mayer; the two seen in 2009 in NYC
‘Because I didn’t deserve it. I’m pretty good at taking accountability now, and I never did anything to deserve that. It was a really lousy thing for her to do,’ he informed the outlet.
John added, ‘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?’
While talking to Glamour shortly after Mayer’s statement, Taylor expressed that it had been ‘presumptuous’ of the singer to ‘assume’ that the track was written about him. ‘I never disclose who my songs are about.’
Before Taylor and John recently called on fans for kindness, he has received negative comments from Swifties in the past as well. Back in March 2021, when he joined TikTok and posted a video for the first time, fans of the songstress referenced to Dear John lyrics in the comments, per People.
And later that same year in November, he received death threats from other fans after Swift re-released Red. Some tracks were assumed to be about her split from Jake Gyllenhaal, but her fans still sent negative comments towards Mayer.
Last month in June, during an Eras Tour concert stop on June 24 in Minneapolis, the star herself quickly addressed her fans before performing Dear John live for the first time in 11 years.
The pop megastar talked about the rerelease of the highly-successful 2010 album as she urged her fans to hold back their outrage. She said, ‘I’m 33 years old, I don’t care about anything that happened to me when I was 19.’
Taylor even seemed to allude to the song not actually being about her 45-year-old ex like is widely believed as she said before performing the song Dear John for the first time in over a decade.
Addressing fans: Last month in June, during an Eras Tour concert stop on June 24 in Minneapolis, the star herself quickly addressed her fans before performing Dear John live for the first time in 11 years
Opening up: Taylor even seemed to allude to the song not actually being about her 45-year-old ex like is widely believed as she said before performing the song Dear John for the first time in over a decade
Ignoring the calls: Social media users jumped to Twitter to offer their own opinions, with one penning, ‘Jokes on taylor swift. i am bullying john mayer for a bunch of other reasons’
No bullying: One fan also jumped to Twitter to explain and note that bullying wasn’t the answer
Re-release: The Grammy winner dropped the re-recorded 2010 Speak Now album which became available on Friday July 7
The A-lister said, ‘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.’
The songstress also teased her upcoming re-release of Dear John as part of ‘Taylor’s Version’ of her 2010 album Speak Now. Taylor previously gave a live performance of Dear John in 2012 during a concert engagement in Auckland, New Zealand.
The performance came a few months after John spoke out about his 2013 song Paper Doll.
During his John Mayer Solo live show in April, John discussed the track, telling the audience: ‘I wonder if people don’t like it because it sounds a little pi**ed off. I don’t like “pi**ed off’ as a song. I think it was more hurt,’ via Yahoo.
Adding: ‘Is there something about it that’s a little b****y? I try not to give bi***ness in the song and that happens sometimes. I guess I don’t do it very well – sarcastic b***h.’
His candid comments came just days after it was revealed Taylor split from boyfriend of six years Joe Alwyn – whom she rebounded from by conducting a whirlwind romance with the bad boy British rocker Matty Healy.
Despite Taylor expressing the intention of re-releasing her Speak Now album, fans didn’t quite listen to her calls for kindness.
Social media users jumped to Twitter to offer their own opinions, with one penning, ‘Jokes on taylor swift. i am bullying john mayer for a bunch of other reasons.’
Another wrote, ‘john mayer groomed you as a teenager when he was 32. he has sexually harassed multiple women and it’s extremely racist so he deserves everything coming his way.’
New dates! Taylor excitedly announced the news on Twitter and penned, ‘Really can’t contain my excitement because…we’re adding 14 new shows to The Eras Tour’
On tour: The songstress has been filtering through a busy schedule for her Eras Tour which concludes its U.S. dates next month in August in Los Angeles; seen in June in Ohio
One fan then noted that bullying wasn’t the answer. ‘Attention Twitter Swifties. Taylor Swift asked us not to be mean to John Mayer when SPTV comes out. Someone on TikTok suggested we ignore him instead and I think ignoring him will do a lit more to his ego than bullying ever will.’
The songstress has been filtering through a busy schedule for her Eras Tour which concludes its U.S. dates next month in August in Los Angeles. Later that same month, she will kick off her international tour dates beginning in Mexico City and South America.
She recently announced that she added 14 new dates as well to the U.K./European trek for 2024. Taylor revealed the news on Twitter and penned, ‘Really can’t contain my excitement because…we’re adding 14 new shows to The Eras Tour.’
‘And I get to travel the world doing shows with @paramore!! Hayley and I have been friends since we were teens in Nashville and now we get to frolic around the UK/Europe next summer??? I’m screaming???’
