No Bad Blood! Jack Antonoff Laughs Off Rumors He Had Ear Plugs in for Katy Perry’s VMA Performance
Taylor Swift's longtime producer pal Jack Antonoff responded to why he was seen in a cutaway appearing to put in earplugs during Katy Perry's performance at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards.
"I would like to tell you directly from me that I did in fact use earplugs the other night," the Bleachers frontman, 40, shared in a Thursday, September 12, post on X. "They were blue ‘hearos’ brand and I'm mortified to admit that I've been using them for a long time as well as buying them in bulk."
Jack joked, “There is nothing left to do but apologize and thank those who have covered this story because although it’s an embarrassment to my family and I, I do believe that this was a very important and pressing issue that needed to be exposed.”
The musician noted that he only uses the earplugs "when in 100 plus DB environments," as well as on planes and "every night" while sleeping.
Jack snarked, "I’m sorry to those I let down and today I will not be going to work and instead thinking about my earplug use and everyone that has been affected by it."
Some viewers thought Jack was slighting Katy, 39, while she performed a medley of her biggest hits ahead of being presented with the MTV Video Vanguard award at the ceremony held on Wednesday, September 11.
The New Jersey native was seated in the front row alongside Taylor, 34, and his wife, Margaret Qualley. The "Shake It Off" singer was seen dancing along to Katy's set, while Jack seemed to be protecting his ears.
X users rallied around Jack's admission to using earplugs. "I can't believe you have the audacity to want to preserve your hearing. Who do you think you are? A Grammy award winning producer or something?" one person joked in the comments, while another added, "Thanks for promoting proper concert ear safety Jack."
"Never be ashamed to admit you are looking after yourself. In your profession I'm not surprised you use earplugs all the time. Well done sir!" one user cheered.
A fan addressed the fact that Jack was a "victim of bad timing" with the cutaway shot, as some viewers thought he was purposely trying to tune out Katy following her past feud with Taylor, 34.
The two superstars' beef became public when the "Lavender Haze" singer told Rolling Stone in September 2014 about a colleague, "She did something so horrible. I was like, ‘Oh, we’re just straight-up enemies.' And it wasn’t even about a guy! It had to do with business." Katy had allegedly hired some of Taylor's backup dancers to join her Prismatic world tour.
“She basically tried to sabotage an entire arena tour. She tried to hire a bunch of people out from under me. And I’m surprisingly non-confrontational — you would not believe how much I hate conflict. So now I have to avoid her. It’s awkward, and I don’t like it," Taylor added.
The "Cruel Summer" songstress also revealed that the track "Bad Blood" from her then-upcoming album, 1989, was about someone she no longer got along with, which many fans believed was directed at Katy.
After some subtly shady social media posts between the two in the years that followed, Katy was asked in 2017 if she believed "Bad Blood" was about her.
"Well, that's not my question to answer — if it's about me," she told Entertainment Weekly. "One thing to note is: You can't mistake kindness for weakness and don't come for me. Anyone. Anyone. Anyone. Anyone. And that's not to any one person and don't quote me that it is."
She added: "Honestly, when women come together and they decide to unite, this world is going to be a better place. Period end of story. But, let me say this: Everything has a reaction or a consequence so don't forget about that, OK, honey."
By 2019, the feud was over, as Katy revealed Taylor sent her a plate of homemade cookies, and the two came together for a hug at the end of the Pennsylvania native's "You Need to Calm Down" music video.
In a June 2019 interview with Capital FM’s Capital Breakfast, Taylor explained their truce.
“We saw each other at a party and walked up to each other and hugged it out and talked about things and then saw each other again at another party,” she recalled. “She and I have been fine for a while, like, really on good terms ... We wanted to make sure that was solid between us before we ever, you know, made the public aware.”
