Taylor Swift says she isn’t releasing ‘Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)’ for fans to “defend me on the internet”

Taylor Swift has shared with fans that she isn’t seeking for fans to “defend” her on the internet when she releases ‘Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)’ this July.

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While performing in Minneapolis on June 24, Swift surprised fans with a performance of ‘Dear John’, playing the track live for the first time since 2012. But before she began playing the fan-favourite, she took a moment to speak to her fans about the upcoming release of ‘Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)’ on July 7.

Before the performance, Swift spoke about being able to witness the love, kindness and compassion that her fans have shared with each other during the entirety of her ‘Eras’ world tour thus far. “As we lead up to this album coming out, I would love for that kindness and gentleness to extend to our internet activities.”

“What I’m trying to say is: I’m putting this album out because I want to own my music and I believe that any artists who has the desire to own their own music should be able to. 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: “I’m not putting this album out so that you can go and should feel the need to defend me on the internet against someone you think I might have written a song about 14million years ago.”

Watch Taylor Swift perform ‘Dear John’ live for the first time since 2012 below.

Taylor Swift is set to release ‘Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)’ on July 7. Earlier this month, Swift took to social media to share the entire tracklisting of the LP, as well as its list of featured guests, which includes Fall Out Boy and Hayley Williams. Pre-orders for the album are available here.

Taylor Swift also recently announced the international dates for her acclaimed ‘Eras’ tour, which will see her take on UK, Europe, Asia and Australia.

She last released her latest album ‘Midnights’ in October 2022. The record scored a four-star review from NME’s Hannah Mylrea, who wrote: “After a foray into a different sonic world, on Swift’s return to pure pop she still shimmers.”