19 Artists Who Shamelessly Trashed Their Exes (Or Cheating Partners) In Jaw-Dropping Lyrics

In 2012, Taylor Swift released (the first version of) one of her most damning breakup anthems, “All Too Well,” which is widely rumoured to be about Jake Gyllenhaal.

Taylor and Jake dated very briefly in late 2010 and early 2011. She was 20 years old when they first got together, and he was 29.

The original version, which is 5 minutes long, references a scarf that Taylor sings about leaving at her lover’s “sister’s house,” which sparked a popular theory that she was alluding to her virginity. This was later reignited when Taylor released a 10-minute version of the track in 2022, complete with a short film starring then-19-year-old Sadie Sink and 30-year-old Dylan O’Brien as lovers. 

Between Dylan’s facial hair, eye-catching beanie, and age gap with Sadie, it seemed apparent that Taylor was alluding to her and Jake’s relationship even more pointedly than she had in the past — and the song’s updated lyrics certainly suggested the same.

In the new version, Taylor makes several apparent references to the age gap between herself and Jake, at one point even recalling “weeping in a party bathroom” over a partner who had told her, “If we had been closer in age, maybe it would have been fine.” She also sings, “I was never good at telling jokes / But the punchline goes / ‘I’ll get older, but your lovers will stay my age,’” seemingly referring to Jake’s pattern of dating women younger than him. (He is currently 44, and his longtime partner, Jeanne Cadieu, is 29).

What’s more, Taylor all but confirmed the “scarf theory” in 2022, when she got incredibly flustered as she said, “The scarf is a metaphor… Um… And I think when I say it’s a metaphor, I’m just going to stop… And I’m going to say thanks for the incredible question to whoever asked it, you’ve really taken us for a ride with that one, thank you.”

You can listen to the full song (and watch the short film) here.