Many targeted the actor online because they believe he is the primary subject of Taylor Swift’s famous breakup record.

Gyllenhall Addresses “Red (Taylor’s Version)”

Actor Jake Gyllenhaal said he does not “begrudge” Taylor Swift for her album “Red (Taylor’s Version)” but argued that artists should have a responsibility to curb “unruly” fans.

Swift released “Red (Taylor’s Version)” in November as part of her ongoing effort to re-record her early work to gain full ownership over it. The album was first released in 2012 and is largely believed to be about her relationship with Gyllenhaal, though the Grammy-winner does not comment on the subjects of her music. For its re-release, Swift included a ten-minute version of the fan-favorite breakup ballad “All Too Well,” as well as a short film accompanying it. Many fans speculated that there were parallels between the new lyrics, visuals in the short film, and the former couple’s brief relationship.

In a profile published Thursday in Esquire, Gyllhenaal was asked about this version of “All Too Well,” which was released just a month prior to him sitting down for his interview with the outlet. He said the track “has nothing to do with” him.

“It’s about her relationship with her fans,” Gyllenhaal said. “It is her expression. Artists tap into personal experiences for inspiration, and I don’t begrudge anyone that.” 

Gyllenhaal Faces Online Ridicule

In the days after the re-release of “Red,” the Internet was full of jokes and memes with Gyllenhaal as the punchline. Some came from fans, but even stars like Dionne Warwick tweeted about how the “Nightcrawler” actor broke Swift’s heart, as did brands like Sour Patch Kids. 

The jokes turned into larger-scale harassment. Gyllenhall disabled commenting on his Instagram when the album came out, with many assuming he did so to minimize the hateful remarks being hurled at him. His comments have since been disabled again, but The Daily Beast captured screenshots of comments Swift’s fans left on his posts when they were open and available to read. Some spammed posts he made about 9/11 and Black Lives Matter. 

While he never mentioned Swift by name while speaking to Esquire — nor did discuss any details of the online ridicule he was subjected to — he did suggest that artists should discourage fans from this kind of behavior. 

“At some point, I think it’s important when supporters get unruly that we feel a responsibility to have them be civil and not allow for cyberbullying in one’s name,” Gyllenhaal said. “That begs for a deeper philosophical question. Not about any individual, per se, but a conversation that allows us to examine how we can—or should, even—take responsibility for what we put into the world, our contributions into the world.” 

“My question is: Is this our future? Is anger and divisiveness our future?” he continued. “Or can we be empowered and empower others while simultaneously putting empathy and civility into the dominant conversation?”

Gyllenhaal said that while he has not listened to “Red (Taylor’s Version)” himself yet, he understands the frenzy.

“I’m not unaware that there’s interest in my life,” he added. “My life is wonderful. I have a relationship that is truly wonderful, and I have a family I love so much. And this whole period of time has made me realize that.”

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While internet shutdowns are relatively common during exams in the region, non-test takers who were burned by the outage questioned why alternative anti-cheating measures were not taken instead.

No Cheating

Nearly 81 million people in the Indian state of Rajasthan had their internet completely cut off for 12 hours on Sunday in a government effort to stop cheating during the Rajasthan Eligibility Exam for Teachers.

Shutdowns of this nature aren’t unheard of during such exams. Other states implemented similar policies during important exam periods, and the move isn’t isolated to India either. Asian municipalities have also implemented similar anti-cheating measures.

It’s unclear why the decision to block the internet for everyone in Rajasthan was considered the best solution, rather than other measures such as confiscating electronic devices when entering exam rooms. However, for the other 79 million residents in the state, the outage proved to be a major annoyance.

Business Deadlock

Residents were without internet from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m, and local outlets reported workers, many of whom are still doing their jobs from home amid the coronavirus pandemic, found themselves without any means to contact their employers and colleagues. Employers couldn’t get messages and communications to clients, and overall, people reported that financial transactions came to a standstill.

In a country where digital transactions — either through mobile devices or even cards — reign supreme, having large amounts of cash on hand was burdensome. The inconvenience is expected to have an economic impact, something that the Udaipur Trade body warned would happen when the measures were first announced earlier in the month.

The Software Freedom Law Centre was similarly concerned about the shutdown.

“Internet shutdowns have a harrowing impact on citizens and are often disproportionate in nature. Internet shutdowns are bound to cause economic loss, an impact on education, healthcare, and other welfare schemes,” it wrote in a message to authorities.

“An internet shutdown during a pandemic can be especially grave considering citizens depend on the internet to get information, work, and study.”

The Centre also warned that this internet shutoff was likely against the law, as cheating doesn’t constitute a “public emergency” or “public safety” measure.

See what others are saying: (Quartz) (Yahoo! Finance) (The Indian Express)