The Shady Side Of Jack Antonoff

While Jack Antonoff has built a reputation as one of the music industry's most prolific producers, he's also garnered attention for his sharp tongue. The eight-time Grammy award-winner has worked with a slew of popular artists like Lorde, Lana Del Rey, and of course, Taylor Swift, who's a close friend of Antonoff. Since 2013, Antonoff has been co-writing and producing with the "1989" singer. It's safe to say that Antonoff has had her back throughout the years, often at the expense of others.

Being criticized is pretty much inevitable for anyone in the spotlight, and Antonoff is no exception. While the negativity affects him at times, the Bleachers frontman takes the criticism with a grain of salt for the most part. In November, he told The Guardian, "It doesn't keep me up at night." But Antonoff's main headline-making controversies haven't had much to do with his actual work. Over the years, he's gotten the internet talking about his blunt persona and shady behavior.

At the GQ Man of the Year Awards in November 2023, Jack Antonoff slammed comedian Amelia Dimoldenberg on the red carpet. While Dimoldenberg is recognized for conducting deliberately awkward interviews, many believed that Antonoff overstepped by responding to her rudely. She asked Antonoff if his glasses were real, to which he replied, "Yeah, of course they're real. That's extremely f***ing offensive." When the host noted that they looked a tad fake, Antonoff retorted, "That's like asking, 'Are you a piece of s***?'" He refused to let it go, posing the question repeatedly. "How much money do you have?" Antonoff then asked rhetorically, throwing out another example of a comparably offensive question.

As viewers called out Antonoff's questionable behavior, British GQ deleted the clip from their TikTok page. While they later posted a video that showed a much more cordial exchange between the pair, many fans were still hung up on the original clip. In a Reddit thread for the video, one user wrote, "When will people realize he is a massive prick lol. So self-important like everything he makes is the best thing ever. Idk it rubs me the wrong way. Have some humility." Even those who gave Antonoff the benefit of the doubt were underwhelmed. Another user remarked, "I've never seen him in an interview before so I just assumed he was trying to be sarcastic/join in with Amelia but it just didn't come off very well."

In a 2014 interview with GQ, Jack Antonoff shared his candid thoughts about various artists and music. "I think Taylor Swift is one of the best songwriters ever," he said. Antonoff continued to rave about his collaborator, saying, "Taylor Swift is cool, because she's the closest thing today that hearkens to Michael Jackson — to great, great pop music." Then, without mincing words, he dissed a few of the industry's biggest stars. "There's a difference between her and [Lady] Gaga and Katy Perry and Lily Allen and all that. It all feels throwaway, comparatively," he remarked. Ouch!

Whether he's listening to or making music, Antonoff seems to have extremely high standards. In a 2017 interview with Pitchfork, he described his expectations for working with someone. He shared, "If I ever work with someone else, all that I think about is: 'Do you want to make the best album you've ever made in your life, or not?' And if there's even a hesitation, then go on your greatest hits tour."

When news broke that several of Scooter Braun's A-list clients were parting ways with the famous music manager, Jack Antonoff didn't miss an opportunity to poke fun at the situation. In August 2023, Antonoff took to his Instagram Story (via Pop Crave on X) to share a "Sims" meme that satirized fans obsessed with the developing story. A picture showed a "Sims" character glued to her computer while neglecting her baby, who's engulfed by flames on the floor. The accompanying quote read, "Not now sweetie, mommy is trying to figure out why Ariana Grande, Demi Lovato, and Idina Menzel just fired Scooter Braun as their manager."

Since Taylor Swift had a major dispute with Braun, Antonoff's reaction felt extra shady. Back in 2019, Braun's company purchased the record label Swift had recorded early records under. Through the deal, the company had ownership of the masters of her first six albums. The singer was appalled and took to Tumblr to vent her frustrations. Swift wrote, "Never in my worst nightmares did I imagine the buyer would be Scooter. Any time Scott Borchetta [founder of Big Machine] has heard the words 'Scooter Braun' escape my lips, it was when I was either crying or trying not to." In 2020, Braun sold her masters to another company. In a post on X, Swift explained that Braun would continue to receive royalties off of her music.

Eating a snack at an awards show may sound innocent, but the context in which Jack Antonoff did so is suspicious. In a video of Katy Perry's 2017 VMAs opening monologue, the camera briefly cuts to Antonoff in the audience, unenthusiastically munching on a banana. While Antonoff may have simply been satisfying his hunger, the musician's indifferent expression suggests he could've been throwing subtle shade at Perry, aka Taylor Swift's former rival. His collaborator's longtime feud with the "Firework" singer, as well as Antonoff's offhand comment about Perry in 2014, further justifies that he was being shady.

Fans were amused by Antonoff's banana-eating and shared their reactions on X, formerly known as Twitter. One user tweeted, "Jack Antonoff bored and eating a banana during Katy Perry's intro is all of us watching this intro." Someone else wrote, "Jack Antonoff eating a banana looking wtf at katy perry is the best moment after Kendrick [Lamar]'s performance." On the other hand, Antonoff's then-girlfriend Lena Dunham left the singer and host out of it, as she tweeted, "My boyfriend just casually eating a banana at the VMAs is a good reminder of why we've been at it half a decade." It seemed like many people found Antonoff's banana incident rather a-peeling.

When musician Damon Albarn discredited Taylor Swift, Jack Antonoff rushed to his friend's defense. In January 2022, the Blur frontman told the Los Angeles Times, "She doesn't write her own songs." The outlet countered him, noting that the "Fearless" star co-writes her songs. Albarn replied, "That doesn't count. I know what co-writing is. Co-writing is very different to writing." Following Albarn's comments, Antonoff hurled a fiery retort at the Blur frontman. In an interview on "The What" podcast, he said, "I don't mind talking s***, like this or that — but I don't like it when artists take almost this Trumpian approach of just making things up." Antonoff emphasized that his issue with Albarn's statement about Swift's songwriting was that it wasn't true.

Antonoff also called out Albarn on X, formerly known as Twitter. He 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." In another tweet, the producer added, "If you were there ... cool ... go off. if not ... maybe .... shut the f*** up?" Antonoff clearly has no problem holding back his true feelings.