Jack White doesn’t want his comments taken out of context.
DETROIT, MICHIGAN – NOVEMBER 27: Jack White performs during the halftime show of the game between the Green Bay Packers and the Detroit Lions at Ford Field on November 27, 2025 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Nic Antaya/Getty Images)
The “Seven Nation Army” singer came under fire for his comments about songwriting that many took as a dig against one of pop’s biggest musicians, Taylor Swift. After telling The Guardian, “Now it’s become very popular in the Taylor Swift way of pop singers writing about all of their publicly aired break-ups, which I don’t find interesting at all,” White is clarifying what he meant.
LAS VEGAS, NV – SEPTEMBER 21: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY; NO COMMERCIAL USE) Jack White poses in the press room during the iHeartRadio Music Festival at T-Mobile Arena on September 21, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images for iHeartMedia)
In a since-deleted Instagram post, he wrote, “Putting this up for a day and then taking down to just put this to bed. I didn’t say that I think Taylor Swift’s music was ‘boring’ or whatever click bait the net is trying to scrape together. What I was trying to say in an interview I did about poetry and lyric writing, was that I don’t find it interesting at all for ME to write about MYSELF in my own lyric writing and poetry because I think that it could be repetitive for ME to always write about and it could be uninteresting for people who listen to my music to delve into, and that imaginary characters are more attractive to me as a writer.”
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – NOVEMBER 08: Jack White speaks onstage during the 2025 Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony – Inside at Peacock Theater on November 08, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images for RRHOF)
White believes musicians should write in the style that they’re the most drawn to, noting that methods like Swift’s are very popular. “They should do what works for them, and they do, and it is obviously appealing to many people, and I’m glad to hear that,” he wrote.
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