Taylor Swift has become one of the biggest pop stars of recent memory. Her catalog of hit songs has captured the hearts of her millions of fans around the world.

However, with all that success comes severe criticism. Much of the criticism Swift has received over the years has dealt with the way she writes about her past relationships.

During an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Swift was asked about a song she wrote called “Dear John.” The lyrics were rumored to be about John Mayer, but Swift wouldn’t reveal who she actually wrote the song about.

Ellen Repeatedly Asked Taylor If Her Song ‘Dear John’ Was About John Mayer And Came To Her Own Conclusion

When Swift made one particular appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2010, the former talk show host mentioned Swift’s reputation for writing about her relationships.

DeGeneres assumed the men Swift had dated were afraid to be near her, because of what she might write about.

“That seems to be the pattern, yeah,” Swift said when DeGeneres asked her if she writes about her relationships often.

DeGeneres then mentioned Swift’s song “Dear John” from her album “Speak Now.” DeGeneres mentioned that, although some were speculating it was about John Mayer, it could just be “a Dear John song.”

“It could be,” Swift said before taking a long pause. DeGeneres’ question left her speechless and the audience began laughing.

She added, “That song kind of is what it is.”

“Okay great,” DeGeneres said. “We know the answer now. It’s about him.”

When Swift playfully made a shocked face, DeGeneres said, “Well, you didn’t dispute it, so obviously…”

“I guess people are going to continue to speculate about it, and I’m going to continue to never tell them who the song is about,” Swift said.

“Right, but it’s about him,” DeGeneres concluded to laughter from the audience.

Swift further elaborated on the inspiration behind the song when speaking to People in 2010.

“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,” she said, noting, “A lot of times they don’t push send.”

Swift told the outlet that the song was “a tough one to write” and that “putting it on the album was pushing send.”

In 2009, Mayer told DeGeneres about singing with Swift on the song “Half of My Heart” from his album “Battle Studies.”

“I’m a huge fan and I think she’s got a really great voice,” Mayer said. “It would later turn out she’s just one of the smartest, most talented people around right now. And very humble.”

Mayer continued to shower Swift with praise when speaking to Access Hollywood.

“Taylor is the world’s biggest star who doesn’t know she’s a star. … Which I think is totally sweet,” he said. “It’s almost like Taylor Swift is a character in a movie about a small-town girl who has her dreams come true and [does] what any small-town girl would do when her dreams come true, which is to freak out. And I still like it that she freaks out, but pretty soon she’s gonna have to stop because it’s sort of like, ‘You’re that good. You’re that good. You might have to go to therapy and have someone else tell you.'”

John Later Revealed That He Wasn’t Happy With ‘Dear John’ And Criticized Taylor’s Songwriting

In 2012, Mayer revealed he wasn’t pleased with the song, assuming it was about him. He told Rolling Stone that it made him “feel terrible.”

Mayer also said that he wasn’t approached by Swift before the song’s release, saying, “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?”

He also called Swift’s pattern of writing about her ex-boyfriends “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 bulls***.”

• Later that year, Swift told Glamour that Mayer was “presumptuous” for assuming the song was about him. She also admitted that she didn’t read his response.
• “I know it wasn’t good, so I don’t want to know,” Swift said. “I put a high priority on staying happy, and I know what I can’t handle.”
• She continued, “It’s not that I’m this egomaniac and I don’t want to hear anything negative, because I do keep myself in check. But I’ve never developed that thick a skin. So I just kind of live a life, and I let all the gossip live somewhere else. If you go too far down the rabbit hole of what people think about you, it can change everything about who you are.”

Mayer would later release a song called “Plastic Doll,” which many assumed was about Swift. However, he would later deny this was the case. In 2021, Mayer spoke about receiving death threats from Swift’s fans. The bad feelings from Swifties continued when Swift’s song “Would’ve Could’ve Should’ve,” from her 2022 album “Midnights,” was released. That song was also rumored to be about Mayer.

Prior to the 2023 release of “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version),” Swift seemed to ask her fans to be kind to those she might have written those songs about.

“So what I’m trying to say is, I’m putting this album out because I want to own my music and I believe that [those] who have the desire to own their music should be able to,” Swift told the audience during the Minneapolis stop of her “Eras Tour.” “That’s why I’m putting out this album.”

“I’m 33 years old, I don’t care about anything that happened to me when I was 19 except the songs I wrote,” she continued. “So what I’m trying to tell you, is that I am not putting this album out so you should feel the need to defend me on the internet against someone you think I wrote a song about 14 million years ago.”

This Wasn’t The First Time Taylor And Ellen Spoke About Her Ex-Boyfriends On The Show

In 2014, Swift appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman to promote her album “1989.” During the interview, Letterman asked Swift if she still writes “snarky” songs about her relationships. He jokingly wondered if she would ever write a “snarky” song about him.

“I would never write a snarky song about our relationship,” Swift said. “You’re my favorite person to talk to.”

Letterman then got more specific, asking Swift about her refusal to write about “lousy” ex-boyfriends.

“Well, I just haven’t had any lousy boyfriends in the past year and a half,” Swift said. “It’s been good.”

Swift’s reputation for calling out her ex-boyfriends seems to have its roots in a particularly memorable Ellen appearance from 2008.

Swift’s relationship with Joe Jonas lasted from July 2008 to October 2008. The two denied their relationship at first, with Swift insisting they were just friends. However, speculation intensified when the two were photographed sitting together at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards. Swift also performed with The Jonas Brothers during their “Burnin’ Up Tour.”

Swift eventually confirmed the relationship after it ended. She told Ellen DeGeneres that her song “Forever & Always” was about Jonas. She also put the singer on blast and revealed the way he broke up with her.

“Some day, I’m gonna find somebody really, really, really great, who’s right for me,” Swift told DeGeneres. “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 gonna be able to remember the boy who broke up with me over the phone in 25 seconds when I was 18.”

“Forever & Always” was included on Swift’s “Fearless” album. She opened up to People about the song and its meaning.

“[It’s] a song about watching somebody completely fade away in a relationship and wondering what you did wrong,” she said.

Jonas responded to Swift’s appearance days later on his MySpace page. He also denied rumors that he cheated on Swift with actress Camilla Belle.

Jonas wrote in part, “For those who have expressed concern over the ’27 second’ phone call, 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.”

In 2019, Swift made another appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and told the host she felt bad about what she said nearly a decade earlier.

“Probably when I like, put Joe Jonas on blast on your show,” Swift said when DeGeneres asked her the most rebellious thing she did as a teenager. “That was too much. Yeah, that was too much. I was 18. We laugh about it now, but that was mouthy … just teenage stuff there.”