Fans have long speculated that Jake Gyllenhaal and Taylor Swift's breakup inspired her hit "All Too Well," and now the actor is finally weighing in.
Swift, 32, released the song in 2012 on her album "Red," and months ago she delighted fans with a 10-minute re-release of the song, which she also performed on "Saturday Night Live."
The extended version sent fans into a frenzy, casting blame at Gyllenhaal for his 2010 split from the Grammy-winning artist after three months of dating. The reaction is believed to be the reason he turned off comments from his Instagram.
In a new interview with Esquire, Gyllenhaal shares for the first time what he thinks of the song, and if he too believes the exes' breakup inspired it. For her part, Swift has never said if Gyllenhaal inspired the song.
"It has nothing to do with me. It’s about her relationship with her fans," he told the outlet.
He added: "It is her expression. Artists tap into personal experiences for inspiration, and I don’t begrudge anyone that."
TAYLOR SWIFT SINGS RUMORED JAKE GYLLENHAAL BREAKUP SONG ‘ALL TOO WELL’ ON ‘SNL’
Gyllenhaal informed the interviewer that the recent criticism from Swift fans hasn't been difficult to deal with despite the overwhelming amount of attention it garnered. It even led Dionne Warwick to go viral for her comments on Twitter, in which she said she'd "pay the cost of postage" for him to return Swift's famous red scarf.
When the interviewer mentioned Gyllenhaal turning off his Instagram comments amid the media frenzy, he shared his stance on cyberbullying.
"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.
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"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," he continued.
Gyllenhaal said he hasn't received any threats and wasn't implying that.
"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."
The re-release of "All Too Well" also got a mention on "SNL"’s fake-news segment Weekend Update.
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"Well guys, I think the lesson we all learned this week is never break up with Taylor Swift or she will sing about you for 10 minutes on national television," co-anchor Colin Jost joked to uproarious cheering.
"At the very least, return the scarf," he added, referencing the song’s lyrics in which Swift claims the ballad’s subject still has the red scarf she left at his sister’s house "because it reminds you of innocence, and it smells like me."