When John Mayer Admitted Feeling "Terrible" After Taylor Swift Released "Dear John"

Taylor Swift and John Mayer's brief romance in 2009 left a lasting impact, especially on Mayer. Their relationship, which began when Swift was 19 and Mayer was 32, ended quickly. But its aftermath played out publicly for years through their music. Swift released Dear John in 2010. The song, widely believed to be about Mayer, didn't hold back. Its lyrics were sharp and revealing. They hinted at manipulation and heartbreak. Swift sang, "Don't you think nineteen is too young to be played by your dark twisted games?"

Mayer was caught off guard and he felt blindsided by the song. In a 2012 Rolling Stone interview, he opened up about his feelings. "It made me feel terrible," he said. "I didn't deserve it." The singer-songwriter felt the song was unfair and claimed Swift never reached out before its release. "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?" Mayer stated. 

Mayer didn't mince words about the song. He called it "cheap songwriting." He accused Swift of abusing her talent. "I think it's abusing your talent to rub your hands together and go, 'Wait till he gets a load of this!' That's bullshit," he told Rolling Stone. Swift's response was equally pointed. She thought it presumptuous of Mayer to assume the song was about him. "How presumptuous! I never disclose who my songs are about," she told Glamour magazine. She admitted knowing Mayer's reaction "wasn't good" but hadn't read it.

The drama didn't end there. In 2013, Mayer released Paper Doll, widely seen as a response to Dear John, as per In Style. The song referenced Swift's lyrics and style, keeping the musical feud alive. Years passed, but the tension remained. In 2016, Mayer tweeted about December 13 being "the lamest day of the year." Many saw this as a dig at Swift, whose birthday falls on that date. Swift's re-release of her album "Speak Now" reignited controversy and Dear John was included in the re-recording. Anticipating potential backlash, Swift addressed her fans at a concert. She asked them not to bully Mayer online last year.

"I'm 33 years old. I don't care about anything that happened to me when I was 19 except the songs I wrote and the memories we made together. So what I’m trying to tell you is that I’m not putting this album out so that you can go and should feel the need to defend me on the internet against someone you think I might have written a song about 14 million years ago. I do not care [about what happened to me then anymore]," Swift told her audience.