John Mayer is one of Swift's exes to have said something about her songs. In an interview with Rolling Stone back in 2012, the "Half of My Heart" musician shared that he was "humiliated" by Swift's slow-burning power ballad "Dear John." Mayer shared, "It made me feel terrible. Because I didn't deserve it. I'm pretty good at taking accountability now, and I never did anything to deserve that. It was a really lousy thing for her to do."

Swift, however, insisted that the re-release of the song "Dear John (Taylor's Version)" as part of her efforts to own her music has nothing to do with digging up old wounds, and she wants her fans to understand that. "So what I'm trying to tell you is that I'm not putting this album out so that you can go and feel the need to defend me on the internet against someone you think I might have written a song about 14 billion years ago when I was 19. I do not care. We have all grown up. We're good," she said at her concert.

She concluded, "Only because I'm proud of it as a song, I'm going to play, 'Dear John.'" Mayer hasn't commented on the re-release of "Speak Now," although one of Swift's other exes, Taylor Lautner, told Today that it's a "great album" and he "feels safe." The "Twilight" star added, however, that he's "Praying for John."