Jake Gyllenhaal FINALLY Breaks His Silence On Taylor Swift’s Red (Taylor's Version)

Well, well, well… look who’s finally chiming in!

A few months after becoming the Internet’s least favorite muse, Jake Gyllenhaal has a few things to say about Taylor Swift’s re-recorded version of Red and the megahit that is All Too Well (10 Minute Version)(Taylor’s Version). If you keep up with Swiftian lore, you know that Jake was the original muse for much of Red following their whirlwind 2011 romance. Taylor’s Version had many fans revisiting that brief but pivotal relationship, and many condemned the actor for his perceived treatment of TayTay (particularly because of the nine-year age gap between 21 year old Taylor and 30 year old Jake).

In a new interview with Esquire, the Donnie Darko star finally addressed the rerecording and the overwhelming backlash he faced after it was released. The big question: did he listen to Taylor’s Version? His answer:

“No.”

Ah, well. According to the songwriter back in 2013, Red’s muse did listen to the OG version and told her it was “like going through a photo album.” Assuming that was Jake, he has heard the songs before. And if he was fine with the songs a decade ago, he’s fine with them now, too. He told Esquire:

“It has nothing to do with me. It’s about her relationship with her fans. It is her expression. Artists tap into personal experiences for inspiration, and I don’t begrudge anyone that.”

That said, the 41-year-old may begrudge the fact that so many Swifties have been attacking him online again. Acknowledging that he did turn off his Instagram comments in the wake of Red’s re-release, he reflected:

“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. … 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.”

Jake clarified that his life has NOT been threatened – though in fairness to him, we wouldn’t be surprised if the backlash got that extreme. Sadly, stan culture can be a bit scary sometimes. And though he’s talking in general terms here, it sounds like he feels Taylor has some responsibility to rein in her very protective fandom. He pondered:

“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.”

Maggie Gyllenhaal’s little bro added:

“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.”

As for whether he’ll be using his own personal experience of being a pop star’s embattled muse for inspiration in his own art, he said:

“I don’t know. I can’t tell you that. Ask me in a month. I don’t start work till the end of January.”

Oooh! We’d be very interested to see Jake’s artistic response to Red. Of course, we don’t think anything can top All Too Well (10 Minute Version), but it would be fun to see what he came up with from his own lane.

What do U think, though, Perezcious readers — do you agree with Jake that Taylor should stop her fans from attacking her exes? (We bet John Mayer would like to see that happen.) Or is the reaction to her music, including the cyberbullying, out of her hands? Let us know your thoughts in the comments (below)!

[Image via WENN/Avalon/Instar & Taylor Swift/YouTube]