Whether you’re a Swiftie, a John Mayer fan, neither, or both, you’ve definitely heard about their little fling. Well, it wasn’t so little. In fact, it created some major headlines with rumors being spread over their secret romance, the age gap between the two, and the songs each one wrote about the other.
Taylor Swift has been writing the soundtrack of our love lives ever since she was handed a microphone, and to be honest, we don’t expect her NOT to sing about the men in her life. But sometimes social media has a way of resurfacing past events and romances, shedding light and new angles on stuff we thought was old news.
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That’s what happened in early March 2021, when John Mayer joined TikTok for the first time and was instantly met with unflattering comments from the Swifties – Taylor’s ride or die fans. So, what’s the deal? It’s high time we get down and dirty and dig deep into John and Taylor’s romance. At the end of the day, after you’ve examined all the facts, you can decide which team you’re really on: Team John or Team Taylor.
What Did John Mayer Do to Taylor Swift?
The John Mayer fans feel bad for the dude. The way they see it, the singer was only trying to get the hang of this whole Tik Tok trend and be funny at the same time. The 43-year-old’s first video was of him struggling to flip his camera to the front-facing position. The caption: “How do you use tik tok ## how do you use tik tok google.com how to use tik tok.”
Source: Tik Tok
The Swifties, however, weren’t having it. In their eyes, he should not exist in happiness – he should forever be in remorse for what he did to Taylor. Take it from the Tik Tok Taylor fans themselves, who wrote things like “You’re not safe here, John,” and “We will never forget what you did to our girl Taylor.” Another Swift fan said, “Taylor would know how to flip the camera.”
So, what did he even do to her? Well, he dated her, dumped her, and basically led her to write a song about him.
When Did John Mayer and Taylor Swift Date?
Swift and Mayer supposedly started dating back in 2009, and the funny thing is that the aftermath of their relationship lasted a heck of a lot longer than the relationship itself. The singing-songwriting couple allegedly dated December 2009 and February 2010.
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Their relationship seemed to start out as a mentor/mentee kind of thing at first since they only started getting close when she sang on Mayer’s track Half of My Heart. Rumors swirled of their possible romance, but it only went public when her song Dear John was released.
If you want more of a timeline, keep scrolling…
They Both Had Their Reputations
31-year-old Swift may have been pushing 20 at the time, but she was by no means a stranger to the dating game. She was already using past loves as fodder for her song-making process. Before John came Joe… Jonas, that is. Taylor and Jonas dated from July 2008 to October 2008, which is when he broke up with her over a 25-second phone call! So yeah, she wasn’t so pleased with men at that point. And of course, she wrote a song about it (Forever & Always).
Wanna see everything there is to know about Taylor Swift? Read this
Mayer had his fair share of famous flings, too, earning himself a reputation as Hollywood’s resident bad boy. He dated Jennifer Aniston and Jessica Simpson, for example, and both involved very public breakups and unflattering words. When Mayer referred to Simpson as “sexual napalm in bed,” people were curious why Swift would even associate with him. She’s Hollywood’s sweetheart, after all.
Check out John Mayer’s list of lady loves here .
The Media Went Into a Frenzy Over Their Age Difference
At the time of their relationship, she was still a teenager – 19 to be exact – and he was 32. Taylor’s had previous relationships, but this 12-year gap between her and Mayer was one that made many eyebrows rise. Let’s not forget the swooner’s reputation as being a serial philanderer. Many people will say that he should have known better than to get involved with someone over a decade younger than him. When he was asked about the age difference, Mayer declined to comment. Well, his actual words were: “I don’t want to go into that.”
Taylor Swift Wrote “Dear John” About John Mayer
Taylor did what she does best: She wrote a song about their love affair called Dear John. In the song, she accused him of taking advantage of her during a truly formative time in her life. At first, people were skeptical of the song – not sure if it was actually written with Mayer in mind. But Swift cleared up all the confusion in an interview, saying, “There are things that were little nuances of the relationship, little hints. Everyone will know, so I don’t really have to send out emails on this one.”
If you’ve somehow never seen the video before, here it is:
The song has some moving lyrics, like “I lived in your chess game, but you changed the rules every day,” and “don’t you think nineteen is too young to be played by your dark, twisted games.”
What Did He Think of “Dear John”?
In a Rolling Stone interview, Mayer admitted that he felt “humiliated” by Swift’s song and that he only learned of her true feelings after hearing it. “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?”
Source: Columbia Records
Mayer said he “didn’t deserve it.” He says he’s good at taking accountability (now) and “never did anything to deserve that.” Swift’s song was “a really lousy thing for her to do.” He added that, as a songwriter, he thinks Dear John is “cheap songwriting.” He knows that she’s “the biggest thing in the world,” but he sees it as “abusing your talent” to write a revenge song just to get a rise out of it. For him, it’s “bulls***.”
Who knows, maybe he’s telling the truth – maybe he really was hurt by Swift. And his eight-minute and 34 second YouTube video in which he compliments Swift the entire time might just be proof. It was clear that when they dated, the guy was smitten.
John Mayer Wrote “Paper Doll” About Taylor Swift
After all that talk about Swift taking a “cheap” swing at him, he goes ahead and writes his own version of Dear John. Mayer wrote a revenge song of his own in 2013 called Paper Doll. Some of the lyrics were arguably about Swift, such as “you’re like 22 girls in one,” referencing her hit song 22. Then there’s the lyric “someone’s gonna paint you another sky,” which referenced her Dear John lyric “you paint me a blue sky.”
This one is a little more debatable, as Mayer never confirmed the inspiration behind the track.