Jake Gyllenhaal has been doing the press rounds recently, promoting his upcoming Netflix movie, The Guilty — but despite what is very likely a desire to focus on his new role, the star just can't seem to escape the rumor mill, in more ways than one.
First, during his interview with The Sunday Times Style, Gyllenhaal was forced to yet again address the rampant speculation concerning his bathing habits. "I've never been accused of being smelly," was the actor's line of defense this time. And many fans have suggested that the fresh look of the magazine's photoshoot, one shot of which shows Gyllenhaal half-clad in a wetsuit, had been designed to further dispel the gossip.
And now, the Brokeback Mountain actor is facing more backlash from Internet users, and Taylor Swift fans, regarding an offhand comment made in the Sunday Times article. Gyllenhaal is quoted as saying, "Women are superior to men in various ways, including developing a sense of mortality earlier than men." This particular excerpt from the interview has been making the rounds on Twitter and has met with a wide range of reactions.
Some fans don't quite understand what Gyllenhaal was trying to get at in his comparison of men and women. One wrote, "This man just says whatever the f*** comes to mind", while another was confused about whether the comparison was meant to be a positive one, tweeting, "Not women knowing they're going to die being a positive trait this man is SICK!"
But many fans of Taylor Swift, who Gyllenhaal famously dated way back in 2011, think there's a deeper meaning behind his recent comments. Swift's next re-recording release is Red (Taylor's Version) which debuts on streaming platforms on November 19th. The album's original release date, back in 2012, closely coincided with the Swift-Gyllenhaal breakup, and fans suspect much of the record's tracklist to be about the Spider-Man: Far From Home actor and their relationship.
Swift's upcoming re-recording is also set to feature a handful of new, "from the vault" tracks, and fans have speculated that these will very likely feature more references to Gyllenhaal. And on top of this, "All Too Well", the song most frequently associated with the actor, will feature on the new release as a 10-minute extended version. Fans of the "Wildest Dreams" songstress think that Gyllenhaal's sudden desire to be vocal about female superiority has the ulterior motive of doing damage control ahead of Red (Taylor's Version) coming out later this fall.
One Twitter user wrote, "I'd be saying these panicked lines too if I knew Red was about to get re-released", while another suggested, "he's trying to get on everyone's good side before the 10 minute all too well drops."
Gyllenhaal followed up his comments on the superiority of women with the revelation, "It has only just hit me that I won't live forever." And Swift fans have joked that the actor's multiple allusions to death had been brought on by the imminent death of Gyllenhaal's public reputation after Swift's new album drops. One wrote, "he's gearing up for this november and his inevitable downfall due to red (taylor's version) good luck jake".
It's clearly been a bit of a rough year for Gyllenhaal in terms of his public image, and it's not over yet — just as the anti-showering allegations were beginning to die down! Here's hoping Taylor takes it easy on him this time.