5 Times Jack Antonoff Went To Bat For Taylor Swift
Jack Antonoff accepted the Grammy Award for Producer of the Year, non-classical in early 2024, marking his third consecutive win of the musical accolade. While Jack and his wife Margaret Qualley turned heads for all the wrong reasons at the event, his acceptance speech also marked a notable moment of the night. "You need the door kicked open for you and different people have done that [at] different points of my life," the producer said, commenting on his success in the musical industry. "To be on the stage, Taylor Swift kicked that f**king door open for me."
As a producer, Antonoff has worked with hit artists like Lorde, Troye Sivan, and Lana Del Rey, but his professional connection with music legend Taylor Swift continues to be one of his most notable. The duo first met at the MTV Europe Music Awards back in 2012, with the 2013 song "Sweeter Than Fiction" marking their first-ever collaboration. Since then, they have worked together to create hits like "Out of the Woods," "Cruel Summer," and "Anti-Hero."
Throughout their professional relationship, Antonoff and Swift have also become well-known friends, with the Bleachers singer going to bat for his famous colleague several times over the years. "I'm a little b***h sometimes," he told the Los Angeles Times. "But you come after my friend Taylor, you're toast to me." We might not be the biggest fan of his language, but we definitely respect the sentiment.
The producer supported Taylor's transition to pop music
Taylor Swift's transition to pop music with her album "1989" marks one of the earliest instances of Jack Antonoff's staunch support for his friend. While the Pennsylvania native experimented with pop influences in her album "Red," her fifth studio release "1989" marked her official pivot from the country genre to mainstream pop. The change didn't sit well with all of her fans and critics, but Antonoff was a major supporter and collaborator during this period of her career.
Though he expressed some reservations about the term "pop" as an indicator of genre, the producer praised Swift's decision to experiment with a new sound back in 2017. "I think she's doing the most important thing that an artist can do, which is constantly change," he told The Daily Beast. "Constantly push forward. Push boundaries. And do something that makes everyone ask questions about her."
Ultimately, "1989" was a major success for both Swift and Antonoff, with collaborative songs like "Out of the Woods," "I Wish You Would," and "You Are in Love" being just the beginning of their joint catalog.
He championed the release of All Too Well (10-Minute Version)
Jack Anotnoff's support of "1989" is just one example of the producer's long-running loyalty to Taylor Swift's musical endeavors. The New Jersey native similarly supported the pop star with the release of her much-anticipated 10-minute version of "All Too Well," with Antonoff even working on the extended version of the song. In an interview with Billboard, he talked about how the special release wasn't something in which the industry necessarily believed.
"Every once in a while, you get hit with this reality that [what's considered commercially successful] is not even true!" he told the outlet. "There are moments like 'All Too Well,' and a few others in my career, where I've gotten to be like, 'Man, this whole thing is just bulls**t made up by some people at labels who are trying to put an answer to an unanswered question.'"
Ultimately, the song was a major hit, charting at number one on Billboard's Hot 100 upon its release and breaking a 50-year-old music record. "To see that go number one is just a further confirmation of what needs to be dismantled in your head," Antonoff continued. "Which is, don't ever f**king think about what some herb is telling you is the thing that's going to work right now, because if someone's telling you that, they're already too late."
Antonoff defended Swift against Damon Albarn
In addition to supporting Taylor Swift throughout her riskier musical endeavors, producer Jack Antonoff has also defended his friend against naysayers. Back in 2022, English musician Damon Albarn, who's most known as the frontman of the band Blur, made some contentious comments about the pop singer's writing credits.
"She doesn't write her own songs," he told the Los Angeles Times. "I know what co-writing is. Co-writing is very different to writing. I'm not hating on anybody, I'm just saying there's a big difference between a songwriter and a songwriter who co-writes." Those familiar with Swift's work know how integral songwriting is to her identity as an artist, with the singer completely solo-writing her third studio album "Speak Now" between the ages of 18 and 20. Albarn's grating assertion wasn't stood for by Antonoff, who took to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, to respond.
"I've never met Damon Albarn and he's never been to my studio but apparently he knows more than the rest of us about all those songs Taylor writes and brings in. Herb," he wrote. In a 2024 interview with the Los Angeles Times, the producer was once again asked about Albarn's comments, having nothing but praise for his friend. As he told the outlet, challenging Swift's songwriting credits and abilities "is like challenging someone's faith in God. You just don't go there."
The singer-songwriter had choice some words for Kanye West
Damon Albarn isn't the only person that Jack Antonoff has defended Taylor Swift against, as he's also had some choice words for Kanye West. In his 2024 conversation with the LA Times, the producer told the outlet that the hip-hop artist "just needs his diaper changed so badly," a sentiment accompanied by his assertion that anyone who hurts Swift is "toast."
Even casual fans of Swift know that the pop star has had a rocky relationship with West, starting with his infamous on-stage intervention at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards. While Swift's mom, Andrea Swift, had a perfect response to the VMAs incident, it wasn't the end of the feud between the two musical stars. Things escalated between West, his former wife Kim Kardashian, and Swift in 2016, a continuation of the feud that hurt the pop star more than we originally knew.
While the bulk of the West-Swift beef seems to be firmly in the past, Antonoff revealed that he had no interest in working with the "Mercy" singer. "It's been a long time since I would've taken Kanye's call," he told the outlet. "I'm so incredibly bored when someone doesn't have the sauce anymore, so they go elsewhere to shock. It's just a remarkable waste of space."
Antonoff clapped back at a questioning outlet
Jack Antonoff doesn't only take a no-nonsense approach when it comes to drama between Taylor Swift and fellow artists, as the producer also has no patience for invasive outlets. As reported by ET, the "Don't Take the Money" artist reportedly hung up on the Netherlands outlet known as NCR after they asked if he had credits on the much-anticipated release of Swift's eleventh studio album "The Tortured Poets Department."
"You know I don't talk about that," he told the outlet before ending the call. "If you're looking for clickbait, you've come to the wrong place. Thank you for this conversation." The interview was allegedly centered around Antonoff's solo work, as he makes music as part of the one-man band known as Bleachers. Since the interview, the songwriting credits for "TTPD" have been released, revealing that Antonoff is, indeed, listed as a co-writer on several songs.
Either way, his refusal to speak about the unreleased details of his and Swift's collaborative work speaks to his ongoing loyalty to his famous friend and colleague. If anything, this is one Hollywood relationship that we don't expect to be leaving the spotlight anytime soon.