After Blur and Gorillaz front man Damon Albarn told the Los Angeles Times that Taylor Swift "doesn't write her own songs," Swift immediately responded on Twitter, "I write ALL of my own songs. Your hot take is completely false and SO damaging." Now Albarn is apologizing…or trying to, at least.
In response to Taylor's tweet, Albarn wrote, "I totally agree with you. i had a conversation about songwriting and sadly it was reduced to clickbait. I apologize unreservedly and unconditionally. The last thing I would want to do is discredit your songwriting. I hope you understand."
Some are asking, however, how Albarn could claim that his comments were reduced to "clickbait" when he specifically said of Taylor, "She doesn't write her own songs."
When the interviewer insisted that Taylor did, and added that she "co-writes some of them," Albarn responded, "That doesn’t count. 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. Doesn’t mean that the outcome can’t be really great."
And then, bizarrely, Albarn then went on to praise Billie Eilish, who co-writes all of her songs with her brother FINNEAS.
Meanwhile, some of Taylor's collaborators, including Jack Antonoff, Aaron Dessner of The National and John Paul White, jumped to her defense.
Antonoff tweeted, "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."
Dessner, who worked with Swift and Antonoff on her albums folklore and evermore, noted, "Your statements couldn't be further from the truth…you're obviously completely clueless as to her actual writing and work process."
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