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Why did John Mayer and Taylor Swift split? Singer posts 'please be kind' message ahead of 'Speak Now' re-release

John Mayer and Taylor Swift were in a brief relationship in 2010 before breaking up

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: John Mayer is urging people to “be kind”. While Swifties are anticipating the re-release of ‘Speak Now’, which contains tracks like ‘Dear John’ - thought to be composed by Taylor Swift about her relationship with John Mayer, the ‘Dead and Company’ frontman is asking for a little compassion from the ‘Anti-Hero’ crooner’s fans.

The 45-year-old singer took to his Instagram to share a slew of images from their tour stop at Boulder, Colorado. The very last photo of the carousel showed a message lit up by drones at the night sky. The message reads, “Please be kind,” which inspired many fans to believe it was a direct reference to Swift re-releasing her ‘Speak Now’ on July 7.

When ‘Dear John’ was released for the first time, the ‘Waiting on the World to Change’ singer received heavy backlash from the Swifties. 

In fact, ahead of the release of ‘Speak Now’, Swift made a heartfelt plea to her fans not to verbally attack anyone they felt might have harmed her in the past. She said while performing in Minneapolis, "I'm 33 years old. I don't care about anything that happened to me when I was 19 except for the songs I wrote," before adding, "So what I'm trying to tell you is that I'm not putting this album out so that you 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."

Why did Taylor Swift and John Mayer break up?

Swift’s relationship with Mayer was one of the highest talking points of her career. Neither Swift nor the ‘Gravity’ singer gave any statement regarding their break up initially. But both of the talented artists released songs that the fans presumed were nods to their breakup. Swift released her immensely popular ‘Dear John’ in her album, ‘Speak Now’. Mayer, on the other hand, released ‘Paper Doll’ which was thought to be addressing his brief relationship with the ‘Blank Space’ crooner.

Swift sang in an accusatory tone, “Dear John, I see it all now, it was wrong / Don’t you think nineteen’s too young/ To be played by your dark, twisted games when I loved you so?” The multiple Grammy-winning star has never disclosed about whom the song was written. In fact, in an interview with Glamour Magazine in 2012, Swift said it was “presumptuous” to think that she wrote ‘Dear John’ about Mayer, and added, “I never disclose who my songs are about.” Adding that she has avoided reading Mayer’s response, Swift said, “I know it wasn’t good, so I don’t want to know,” before adding, “I put a high priority on staying happy, and I know what I can’t handle.”

Talking about the song, Swift even shared with People once, “A lot of times when people’s relationships end, they write an email to that person and say everything that they wish they would have said,” before continuing, “A lot of times they don’t push send.”

'I never got an e-mail'

Nevertheless, Mayer felt “humiliated” by Swift’s accusations as he said to Rolling Stone in 2012, “I never got an e-mail. I never got a phone call,” before elaborating, “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?” 

The ‘Neon’ singer added, “I will say as a songwriter that I think it’s kind of cheap songwriting. I know she’s the biggest thing in the world, and I’m not trying to sink anybody’s ship, but 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.”

In the next year, he himself came up with his own breakup song. In the song ‘Paper Doll’ which appeared in his 2013 album, ‘Paradise Valley’, he sang, “You’re like twenty-two girls in one / And none of them know what they’re runnin’ from,” probably referring to Swift’s ‘22’ of 2012.