Taylor Swift didn’t hold back when Ellen asked about the ex who dumped her over the phone: "In 25 seconds..."
On November 11, 2008, the 'Blank Space' singer Taylor Swift, then 18, appeared on 'The Ellen DeGeneres Show' to promote her album 'Fearless.' What started as a lighthearted conversation took an unexpected turn when Swift revealed that Joe Jonas had broken up with her over the phone—in just 25 seconds. The revelation stunned Ellen, the live audience, and fans worldwide. During the interview, when Ellen pointed out saying, "All the songs here are about boys and love," Swift replied, “There are a couple of people they are about, actually." Ellen then pointed at a picture of Swift with Joe Jonas and asked, “Like maybe... somebody maybe like... ‘that guy’?” Swift didn't hesitate: “There’s one song that’s about that guy. That guy is no longer in my life anymore, unfortunately.” The audience gasped, and Ellen, clearly taken aback, said, “Uh... I’m sorry to hear that.” Swift simply responded, “I know, that was an ouch."
Ellen then asked which song was about Jonas, and Swift confirmed, “It’s called 'Forever and Always.'" The most shocking moment came when Swift declared, “When I find that person that is right for me... he'll be wonderful. And when I look at that person, I'm not even going to be able to remember the boy who broke up with me over the phone in 25 seconds when I was 18.” Ellen, stunned, replied, “There must be millions of people mad at him right now.” The audience roared in agreement.
According to The Gainesville Sun, Joe Jonas later responded on his MySpace page, refuting the claim: “I called to discuss feelings with the other person. Those feelings were obviously not well received. I did not end the conversation. Someone else did. Phone calls can only last as long as the person on the other end of the line is willing to talk. A phone call can be pretty short when someone else ends the call. The only difference in this conversation was that I shared something the other person did not want to hear.”
Joe Jonas performed Much Better for the first time in YEARS the other night and the lyric was changed from “now I’m done with superstars” to “now I’m cool with superstars” to show how he’s grown up and friends with Taylor Swift again and I can’t get over it.
— panda 🐼 (@_pandacoffee_) June 5, 2022
Per JustJared, fans believed that Joe Jonas subtly addressed the breakup in his song 'Much Better,' singing, “I got a rep for breaking hearts / Now I’m done with superstars / and the tears on her guitar / I am not bitter.” However, according to Billboard, during one of his performances in Las Vegas in June 2022, he changed the lyrics from "Now I'm done with superstars" to "Now I’m cool with superstars," which led the fans to flood the social media comment section. "Now this is growth," said one on Twitter; another wrote, Joe Jonas changed the lyrics in 'Much Better' to "Now I’m COOL with superstars"... We love that."
Also, in 2019, Swift admitted on Ellen that publicly calling out Jonas was a mistake. “That was too much... I was 18. We laugh about it now, but that was mouthy. Just some teenage stuff there,” she said. Shortly after Swift’s 2019 comments gained traction, Yahoo reported that, during an interview on ITV’s Lorraine, Joe Jonas admitted that hearing Taylor Swift express regret “did feel nice.” Reflecting on their past, he shared, “It’s something that I probably felt pretty bad about when I was younger. But at the end of the day, I’ve moved on, I’m sure Taylor’s moved on, and it feels nice. We’re all friends, and it’s all good. We were so young.” Jonas also opened up about where they stand today, assuring that there’s no bad blood between them. He casually remarked, “We’re cool,” before adding with a laugh, “I hope to think they like me. No one f*cks with the Swifties, you know?”